Reflections of Clouds on the Water-Lily Pond, 1920 Oil on canvas Three panels, each 6′ 6 3/4″ x 13′ 11 1/4″ (200 x 424.8 cm), overall 6′ 6 3/4″ x 41′ 10 3/8″ (200 x 1276 cm). by Claude Monet The Museum of Modern Art New York City

For me, seeing this painting was like viewing the Grand Canyon for the first time. It is breathtaking and just plain beautiful. If you click on the picture, you might get a feel of just how much the three panels fills the room.

The aim of his large Water Lilies paintings (click on picture to enlarge), Monet said, was to supply “the illusion of an endless whole, of water without horizon or bank.”

While his garden in Giverny, his water-lily pond, and the sky above are the subjects of this monumental triptych, his representation of them can be seen to verge toward abstraction.

In the attempt to capture the constantly changing qualities of natural light and color, spatial cues all but dissolve; above and below, near and far, water and sky all commingle.

In his enveloping, large-scale canvases Monet sought to create “the refuge of a peaceful meditation in the center of a flowering aquarium.”

Left Panel

Center Panel

Right Panel

Gallery text: http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?object_id=80220

deletereply forgetmenot525 wrote on Nov 30, ’08 Oh this is a glorious painting, suburb, but i’m a bit confused. I have a distinct memory of seeing this in Paris in about 1972 (ish) has it moved or was it another painting I saw, I always believed it to be this one. Maybe I have a false memory………………..either way this painting is beautiful, thanks laurita

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Nov 30, ’08 Loretta, it’s very possible that this painting moved around to different museums. I just saw this painting last weekend. Don’t forget also that Monet did many versions of Water-Lily paintings. The one you saw in Paris may have been this one. If you click on the museum link at the bottom of the post, it might give you more information.

deletereply forgetmenot525 wrote on Nov 30, ’08 Thanks………………….this was a very long time ago and I may have been mistaken but all these years I have believed I saw this painting, in fact the way you describe your first sight of it is exactly the feeling I remember. It’s sort of………….wow, speechless, its just so big it fills the whole of your field of vision and it looks/ feels …. like a water lily pond, for real. ……………so maybe it has moved around a bit. I will need to find out now.

deletereply forgetmenot525 wrote on Nov 30, ’08 You get lost in it, …………….totally amazing, it has the WOW factor like almost no other painting i have ever seen…..

deletereply sweetpotatoqueen wrote on Nov 30, ’08 Laurita: 2 years ago there was a Monet exhibit here in NC. I felt the same you did when I viewed Monet’s artistry. I got lost in the swirls of color and textures of this work. For some reason this color combination appeals to me greatly…so soothing.

deletereply starfishred wrote on Nov 30, ’08 3yrs. ago we had it here in basel it was wonderful-hehehe I almodt picked this one thank you a lovely tour laurita

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Dec 1, ’08 He did a lot of water lily paintings. I love the colors he used.