Waterlilies 1904

Claude Monet painted this scene of waterlilies with oil on canvas, date unknown. Look at the surface of the painting, you can see how Monet worked wet into wet, building up layers of colour, particularly in the way he captures the light on the water. I love how the marks are so present, so visible. Up close, you can see each dab and stroke. There's this push and pull between representation and abstraction. He’s capturing a real scene, but also exploring the pure physicality of paint. Take a look at the top left corner where he has used dark greens and blues. It’s a very gestural passage, but that area also reads as the dark depths of the pond. He invites us to lose ourselves in these marks, to experience the painting as a thing in itself. Monet’s paintings remind me of Joan Mitchell’s work, her expressionistic landscapes. Both artists show us that painting is about seeing, feeling, and translating those experiences onto canvas. It’s an ongoing conversation, and we’re all invited to join in.