Monet Water Lilies boxed note cards

In 1893 Claude Monet expanded the garden of his home at Giverny. There he cultivated exotic water lilies in an exquisite garden pond rimmed with Asian plants. Over the next 25 years, he used the water lily motif as the basis of large compositions that would mark his transition from easel painting to ambitious mural-scaled decorations. In front of this painting, we imagine ourselves suspended over a seemingly infinite and somewhat mysterious field of subtle hues, as we are freed from the limitations of weight, of space as defined by traditional perspective, and of narrative. The result is a peaceful field of compelling beauty that invites contemplation and reverie. Originally conceived as the centerpiece of a three-panel installation that would envelop the viewer, this panel and its pendants (now in Kansas City and Cleveland) were intended by Monet to comprise a monumental Water Lilies decoration, like the one now permanently installed at the Orangerie des Tuileries in Paris.

Ten 5 x 7" note cards with envelopes.