Water Lily Pond 1917

Curator: Take a moment to consider this oil painting titled "Water Lily Pond", rendered by Claude Monet in 1917. Editor: Hmm, it feels... blurry, almost like a dream. The colors melt into each other. Very atmospheric. Curator: Indeed. Monet's series of water lily paintings really pushed the boundaries of impressionism, and here we can see how he starts dissolving forms in pursuit of capturing the fleeting effects of light and reflection on water. Editor: It’s fascinating how he captures light without really defining the objects. You get this sensation of light shimmering on the surface, of depths lurking below. The composition is also really interesting. It lacks a clear focal point, and it gives the sensation of continuous, all-encompassing space. Curator: It's true. It's a radical flattening of perspective that pulls the viewer into the plane of the pond itself, making us part of this mirrored world. We almost forget that it is just oil on canvas, and it seems instead a real sensory space. Editor: Which is incredible, when you consider the materials used. Looking closely, you can almost track the brushstrokes, little jabs and dabs of color, the materiality of the medium is actually very present! Curator: Absolutely. Those bold brushstrokes create a sense of movement, of the water and plant life being alive, breathing, reacting. The composition has geometric suggestion amid nature, the circles of lily pads offset by the suggestion of reflections of trees. Editor: So, in a sense, it’s almost both, isn’t it? Very abstract but intensely realistic too. It seems contradictory, but Monet's vision lets you get a feeling for water like nothing I've seen. Curator: That’s the beauty of it. It shows nature refracted through a very particular sensibility. Editor: You are totally right! I never thought I could say so much about waterlilies. Thanks for opening my eyes on it.