The Museum of Modern Art features an array of artistic masterpieces. One creation that I found myself analyzing was Water Lilies by Claude Monet. Monet was one of the French painters who began the impressionist painting movement, having rejected the traditional approach. Impressionism consists of paintings that express the distinct effect that color and light has on nature and other still life. Water Lilies is one of Claude Monet’s longest series to exist, consisting of approximately 250 oil paintings over the course of almost 12 years (1914-1926). The pieces in the series were meant to supply “the illusion of an endless whole, of water without horizon or bank”, according to Monet, himself.
The picture above that didn’t seem to have a definite title other than the series’, Water Lilies, was showcased through three large panels side by side. And as explained by Monet, himself, of what he hoped the painting expresses, there was only a visible lily pond and nothing beyond; it was whole, endless water without a shore in sight. Because of the oil pastels, it was difficult to figure out exactly what is being seen, but eventually, the lilies began to appear before me. The light blue around the lilies can also give off a sense that it could be a blossomed flower tree that is being reflected upon the water, as it closely resembles a clear sky that is slightly peering through. Although many impressionist artists prefer to make their pieces more vibrant and lively, imagining colors that can cause the scenery to lighten, there are several that showcase darkness, a bit like this one. It almost seems real without any added twist, and possibly even a life to canvas creation as Monet observed it, which now thinking about it, is exactly what impressionist paintings depict. In them, there is nothing perfect, but rather everything is flawed, as observed in actuality.
Other than the amount of space it had taken up on the museum wall, the painting has a calming vibe that greatly draws attention to it. Along with the other pieces in the series, gazing at this brings about several thoughts of nature and traditional art. By now, nature has been encountered countless times in various artistry as a backdrop. Oil paintings, in general, are crafts that have recently made a breakthrough. Traditional paintings were subject to viewing the world through a different lens, to counteract the basicness. I feel that artists were eager to show how exactly they found a complex meaning in something so simple. Paintings such as the Water Lilies series really depicts that something as simple as a pond with lilies can just be that, a pond with lilies; that there is no ulterior hidden interpretation. The essence of it is that art can be made to elicit emotions of pleasure, rather than a deep analysis. The form which Claude Monet has taken upon to portray this is simply a different means of creation.
