Water Lilies 1919

This painting of water lilies was made by Claude Monet using oil on canvas, and what strikes me is its pure dedication to color. Monet's brushstrokes are these visible, choppy marks that feel like he's trying to capture not just the lilies, but also the shimmering, fleeting light dancing on the water’s surface. Look at the way he layers blues and greens, with touches of pink and yellow peeking through. It's like he's trying to catch a feeling more than a thing. I really love the cluster of lily pads near the bottom, how they're built up with these dabs of paint that create this palpable sense of texture. You can almost feel the weight of those leaves resting on the water. It reminds me a bit of Turner, that sense of dissolving form, but Monet is doing his own thing. It's about the ongoing conversation of painting, where each artist tries to wrangle something new out of the same old stuff, like color and light.