Water Lilies 1908

This is one of Claude Monet's Water Lilies paintings, and it feels like it was made with light itself, smeared onto the canvas. Look at how the blues and greens mix to conjure the feeling of water, but also become abstract shapes in their own right. There’s something so intimate about the way Monet handles paint here. The colors are soft, almost hazy, like a memory. Notice the circular format, and how it pulls you in, like looking into a pool. It's all about sensation, about capturing a fleeting moment. The lilies themselves are just suggestions, dabs of color that hint at form without ever quite solidifying. It's like he's inviting us to finish the painting in our own minds. This reminds me of the later work of Joan Mitchell, another painter obsessed with light and color and dissolving forms. These painters show us that art is a conversation and an ongoing exploration, an invitation to keep looking and feeling.