Water Lilies 1917

Claude Monet made these Water Lilies with oil paint, and it’s like he’s trying to figure out how to see. It’s pure process. Looking closely, you can really see how the paint is applied. It’s not about making things look real; it’s about how the paint itself behaves. Thick strokes of blues and greens build up the water and foliage, but then he throws in these unexpected pinks and purples that make the whole scene vibrate. See how the edges of the lily pads are outlined with a dark violet? That simple gesture brings them forward, making the whole painting a push and pull between depth and surface. Monet was always chasing the way light changes things, and you can see that same searching in other impressionist painters like Pissarro. It’s a conversation across time, about how we see and how we can make seeing into a feeling. There are no right answers here, only endless ways to look.