Beginning in 1903, Monet embarked on a series of paintings depicting his water garden at Giverny. Here lily pads scattered across the canvas mark the water’s surface receding into space. The pattern of light and shadow beneath the lilies suggests reflections of an unseen sky and trees, and the spreading water of the surface of the lily pond expands to cover the entire canvas. Monet exhibited forty-eight of these ‘water landscapes’ in 1909. Fascinated by their subtle fusion of solid forms and diaphanous reflections, critics compared the paintings to poetry and music.
Claude Monet
French 1840–1926
Water Lilies 1905 (detail)
oil on canvas
89.5 x 100.3 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Gift of Edward Jackson Holmes (39.804)
© 2025 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Reproduced with permission. All Rights Reserved.
