Water Lilies and the Japanese Bridge by Claude Monet

Claude Monet. Painting Water Lilies and Japanese Bridge, 1899
Claude Monet. Painting Water Lilies and Japanese Bridge, 1899

Water Lilies and the Japanese Bridge is a painting created in 1899 by Claude Monet (Oscar-Claude Monet). In the lower part, in the foreground, there is a flat surface of a pond, lined with a complex pattern of multi-colored water lilies, between which one can see the reflection of other plants.

With wide textured strokes, the painter conveyed the dynamics of nature, the slight swaying of flowers in still water. Dense crowns of trees rush up behind. They not only add depth to the perspective, but also create a sense of spaciousness, as if pushing the boundaries of the canvas.

The wooden arched bridge running across the entire width of the painting is the center of the composition. Illuminated by the rays of the sun shining through the foliage, it does not seem like an alien element among the riot of plants. On the contrary, it creates the effect of presence, turns the viewer into a participant in this delightful, pacifying moment.

Water Lilies and the Japanese Bridge by Claude Monet a landscape in which the artist’s two passions are combined: flowers and painting

Author: Claude Monet (1840-1926).
Year of writing: 1899
Dimensions approx.90.5 x 89.7 cm.
Style: Impressionism.
Genre: Landscape.
Technique: Oil.
Material: Canvas.
Location: Art Museum of Princeton University.

Claude Monet Japanese bridge (Pond with water lilies, symphony in pink), 1890
Claude Monet Japanese bridge (Pond with water lilies, symphony in pink), 1890

Claude Monet is a painter of the late 19th early 20th centuries, one of the founders of French impressionism.

In 1883, he moved to live in the town of Giverny, where he planned to transform a nearby pond into an oriental-inspired water garden. The artist surrounded the reservoir with flowers, complemented it with bright water plants and built a small wooden bridge. The resulting landscape liked the master so much that it became his favorite subject for the next three decades.

The painting “Water Lilies and the Japanese Bridge” is executed in a vertical format, due to which the viewer’s attention, first of all, focuses on the water lilies. Although there is no sky on the canvas, the image turned out to be light and airy thanks to a combination of wide horizontal and smaller vertical strokes, a careful drawing of light and shadow, a skillfully built composition in which the lower horizontal fragment is balanced by the rapidly skyward lines of the upper half, and a vaulted bridge connects these parts together.

The author diluted the cold blue and green shades of the foliage with pink, yellow and purple strokes on the flowers.

So he created iridescent colors, “illuminated” the image from the inside and allowed the viewer to feel the subtle nuances of natural lighting. Claude Monet sought to stop a fleeting moment, to capture the play of sunlight on plants and water, painted the same landscape from several angles, in different seasons and in different light. As a result, the painter created a whole series of works with water lilies and a bridge that adorn museums and private collections around the world. One of the options can be seen at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris.

The painting “Water Lilies and the Japanese Bridge” by Claude Monet is a reflection of a wonderful moment in which the author managed with amazing believability to convey the charm of nature bathed in sunlight, the calmness and pacification of a summer day. The masterpiece of life and beauty is currently in the collection of the Princeton University Art Museum.

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