The mystery of Monet's water landscapes

For the Autumn of 2024, Tokyo will host a new major exhibition dedicated to the Master of French Impressionism Claude Monet and his water landscapes at The National Museum of Western Art. The Water Lilies cycle occupied Claude Monet for almost three decades, from the late 1890s until his death in 1926, at the age of 86. This cycle is inspired by the water garden that Monet created on the property of his house in Giverny in Normandy. It culminated in the last large panels donated by Monet to the State in 1922 and visible at the Musée de l'Orangerie since 1927. The word nymphéa derives from the Greek numphé, nymph, and takes its name from the ancient mythology which attributes the birth of the flower to a nymph who died of love for Hercules. This is actually the scientific term for a water lily. The famous water lily pond inspired Monet to create a titanic work consisting of almost 300 paintings, including more than forty large-format panels. Paintings where the theme of water, light and colors is the result of incessant research by the great French painter.