Water Lilies 1907

Monet made this painting of water lilies, well, he made a lot of them, and each one seems to be a record of how he saw the world. Here he’s working with blues and greens, reflecting light, not really describing the lilies themselves. Up close you can see these flicks and dashes of paint, and how they become the surface of the water, the reflections of the sky. I love the way the colors vibrate against each other. Look at how the blues meet the greens, how the yellows add a zing. It's like he’s wrestling with the paint, trying to catch the feeling of being there, you know? It’s this dance of observation, a process of recording what you see. The surface of the painting is alive with this energy. Monet’s work is really interesting when you think about someone like Gerhard Richter, who also played with light and surface but in a totally different way. Art is just one big conversation isn't it, across time.