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The Water Lilies - The Clouds

Claude Monet1915/1926

Musée de l'Orangerie

Musée de l'Orangerie
Paris, France

Monet's veritable artistic testament, these "large decorations" are the culmination of an entire life. Designed from 1915 until his death (1926), they are inspired by the "water garden" at the artist's property in Giverny. As of 1886, Monet became more interested in representing his garden according to the rythm of light variations. The eight panels evoke the hours passing, from morning to the East to Sunset in the West.

Monet represents neither the horizon, nor the top or the bottom. The elements - water, air, sky, earth - become interwined in a composition without perpective, where the water lily folwers provide the rythm. The painter thus give "the illusion of an endless whole, of a horizonless and shoreless wave".

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  • Title: The Water Lilies - The Clouds
  • Creator Lifespan: 1840 - 1926
  • Creator Nationality: French
  • Creator Gender: Male
  • Creator Death Place: Giverny
  • Creator Birth Place: Paris
  • Date Created: 1915/1926
  • Provenance: Donation of Claude Monet, 1922
  • Physical Dimensions: w12750 x h2000 mm
  • Painter: Claude Monet
  • Original Title: Les Nuages
  • Type: Painting
  • Rights: © RMN (Musée de l'Orangerie) / Michel Urtado
Musée de l'Orangerie

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