Water Lilies (Monet series) facts for kids

Claude Monet, The Water Lilies – The Clouds, 1920–1926, Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris

Claude Monet, The Water Lilies – Setting Sun, 1920–1926, Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris

Claude Monet, Reflections of Clouds on the Water-Lily Pond, c. 1920, 200 × 1276 cm (78.74 × 502.36 in), oil on canvas, Museum of Modern Art, New York City

Water Lilies (French: Nymphéas [nɛ̃.fe.a]) is a series of approximately 250 oil paintings by French Impressionist Claude Monet (1840–1926). The paintings depict his flower garden at his home in Giverny, and were the main focus of his artistic production during the last thirty years of his life. Many of the works were painted while Monet suffered from cataracts.

Background

Monet's long-standing preference for producing and exhibiting a series of paintings related by subject and perspective began in 1889, with at least ten paintings done at the Valley of the Creuse, which were shown at the Galerie Georges Petit. Among his other famous series are his Haystacks.

During the 1920s, the state of France built a pair of oval rooms at the Musée de l'Orangerie as a permanent home for eight water lily murals by Monet. The exhibit opened to the public on 16 May 1927, a few months after Monet's death. Sixty water lily paintings from around the globe were assembled for a special exhibition at the Musée de l'Orangerie in 1999.

The paintings are on prominent display at museums all over the world, including the Princeton University Art Museum, Musée Marmottan Monet, the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Saint Louis Art Museum, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri, the Carnegie Museum of Art, the National Museum of Wales, the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nantes, The Toledo Museum of Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Portland Art Museum, and the Legion of Honor. In 2020, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston celebrated its 150th anniversary with some of Monet's Water Lilies paintings.

The paintings at auction

Monet painted the bigger works of his Water Lily series in a large studio at his home in Giverny, France

On 19 June 2007, one of Monet's Water Lily paintings sold for £18.5 million at a Sotheby's auction in London. On 24 June 2008 another of his Water Lily paintings, Le Bassin Aux Nymphéas, sold for almost £41 million at Christie's in London, almost double the estimate of £18 to £24 million.

In May 2010, it was announced that the 1906 Nymphéas work would be auctioned in London in June 2010. The painting had an estimated sale price of between £30 and £40 million. Giovanna Bertazzoni, Christie's auction house director and head of impressionist and modern art, said, "Claude Monet's water-lily paintings are amongst the most recognised and celebrated works of the 20th Century and were hugely influential to many of the following generations of artists." The sale took place on 23 June 2010 at the auction house and the painting attracted bids of up to £29 million, but it ultimately failed to sell.

On 6 May 2014, one of the Water Lilies, Le Bassin aux Nymphéas, was auctioned at Christie's, New York City for $27 million.[16]

In June 2014, one of the Water Lilies, Nymphéas, sold for $54 million USD at a Sotheby's auction in London. This piece was auctioned to an anonymous buyer, but the piece went on to be part of the exhibition "Painting the Modern Garden: From Monet to Matisse" at the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Royal Academy of Arts, London, starting in 2015. The co-chairman of Sotheby's modern and impressionist art department, Helena Newman, claims that the result is at the top of the original estimated selling price. This price was between 34 and 51 million USD.

While many of Monet’s masterpieces have sold, there are still an estimated 250 oil paintings from this series. The collection is widely popular, with many of these pieces residing in exhibits that have yet to go to auction. The paintings have been catalogued by Daniel Wildenstein in his Monet: Catalogue Raisonné.

Gallery

• 

  Le Bassin Aux Nymphéas, 1919, private collection

• 

  Water Lilies, 1919, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

• 

  Nymphéas, 1915, Musée Marmottan Monet

• 

  Nymphéas (Waterlilies), 1914–1917, National Gallery of Australia

• 

  Closeup of Water lily pond, one of 18 views of the pond, 1899, Boston Museum of Fine Arts

List of Water Lily paintings

Image	Title	Date	Catalog No	Size (cm)	Museum
	Water Lilies	1897–1898	W.1501	66 x 104	Los Angeles County Museum of Art
	Water Lilies	1897–1898	W.1502	73 x 100	Ohara Gallery, New York
	Water Lilies	1897–1898	W.1503	75 x 100
	Water Lilies – Evening Effect	1897–1898	W.1504	73 x 100	Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris
	Water Lilies	1897–1898	W.1505	75 x 100
	Water-Lilies	1897–1899	W.1506	89 x 130	City Museum of Art, Kagoshima
	Water Lilies	1897–1899	W.1507	81 x 100	Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna, Rome
	Water-Lilies	1897–1899	W.1508	130 x 152
	Water Lilies and Japanese Bridge	1899	W.1509	90 x 90	Princeton University Art Museum
	The Water Lily Pond	1899	W.1510	92 x 90
	The Water Lily Pond	1899	W.1511	89 x 92	Pola Museum of Art, Kanagawa
	Japanese Bridge and Water Lily Pond	1899	W.1512	89 x 93	Philadelphia Museum of Art
	White Water Lilies	1895	W.1513		Pushkin Museum (Moscow)
	The Water-Lily Pond	1899	W.1514	89 x 92
	The Lily Pond, Green Harmony	1898	W.1515	89 x 92	Musée d'Orsay, Paris
	The Lily Pond	1899	W.1516	88 x 93	National Gallery, London
	Japanese Footbridge	1899	W.1517	81 x 100	National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
	Bridge over the Lily Pond	1899	W.1518	93 x 74	Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
	Bridge over the Water-Lilies	1899	W.1520	116 x 89	MM Khalil Museum, Cairo
	Water Lily Pond	1900	W.1628	89.8 × 101	Art Institute of Chicago
	Water-Lily Pond, Symphony in Rose	1900	W.1629		Musée d'Orsay, Paris
	The Water-Lily Pond	1900	W.1630		Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
	The Japanese Bridge or The Lily Pond	1900	W.1631	89 x 82	Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
	Water-lily Pond and Path by the Water	1900	W.1633
	Water-Lilies, Clouds	1903	W.1656	73 x 100	Private collection
	Water-Lilies	1903	W.1657	81 x 100	Dayton Art Institute
	Water-Lilies	1903	W.1658	81 x 100	Bridgestone Museum of Art, Tokyo
	Water-Lilies	1903	W.1660		Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris
	Water-Lilies	1903	W.1661		Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris
	Water-Lilies	1904	W.1662	81 x 100	Private collection
	Lily Pond	1904	W.1664	90 x 96	Museum of modern art André Malraux - MuMa, Le Havre
	Water-Lilies	1904	W.1665
	Lily Pond	1904	W.1666	88 x 91	Denver Art Museum
	Water-Lilies	1904	W.1667		Musée des Beaux-Arts de Caen
	The Bridge over the Water-Lily Pond	1905	W.1668		Private collection
	Lily Pond, the Bridge	1905	W.1669
	The Water-Lily Pond and Bridge	1905	W.1670	86 X 100	Private collection
	Water-Lilies	1905	W.1671	89 x 100	Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
	Water-Lilies	1905	W.1672	89 x 99	Private collection
	Water-Lilies	1905	W.1673	90 X 100
	Water-Lilies	1905	W.1674	90 x 100
	Water-Lilies	1905	W.1675	89 x 92
	Water-Lilies	1905	W.1676		Private collection
	Water-Lilies	1905	W.1678		Private collection
	Water-Lilies	1905	W.1679	81 x 100.5
	Water-Lilies	1905	W.1680	82 x 101	National Museums & Galleries of Wales, Cardiff
	Water-Lilies	1906–07	W.1682	73 x 100	Private collection
	Water Lilies	1906	W.1683	89.9 × 94.1	Art Institute of Chicago
	Water-Lilies	1906–07	W.1684		Private collection
	Water-Lilies	1906–07	W.1685	81 x 92
	Water-Lilies	1906–07	W.1686		Private collection
	Water-Lilies	1906–07	W.1687	91 x 100
	Water-Lilies	1906–07	W.1688		National Museums & Galleries of Wales, Cardiff
	Water-Lilies	1906–07	W.1689	73 x 92	Ohara Museum of Art, Kurashiki
	Water-Lilies	1908	W.1690	90 x 93	Kunstmuseum, Saint Gallen
	Water-Lilies	1907	W.1691	81 x 92	Museum of Art, Yamagata
	Water-Lilies	1907	W.1695	81 x 100	Musée M Khalil, Cairo
	Water-Lilies	1907	W.1696		Wadsworth Atheneum Hartford
	Water-Lilies	1907	W.1697	90 x 93	Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
	Water-Lilies	1907	W.1698	93 x 89
	Water-Lilies	1907	W.1699	93 x 99	Pola Museum of Art, Kanagawa
	Water-Lilies	1907	W.1700
	Water-Lilies	1907	W.1701	Diam. 81 cm	Musée d'art moderne (Saint-Étienne)
	Water-Lilies	1907	W.1702	circular	Musée d'art moderne (Saint-Étienne)
	Water-Lilies	1907	W.1703	91 x 81	Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
	Water-Lilies	1907	W.1704
	Water-Lilies	1907	W.1705
	Water-Lilies	1907	W.1706	73 x 92
	Water-Lilies	1907	W.1707	100 x 82
	Water-Lilies	1907	W.1708	100 x 73	Private collection
	Water-Lilies	1907	W.1709		Private collection
	Water-Lilies	1907	W.1710		Israel Museum, Jerusalem
	Water-Lilies	1907	W.1713	82 x 89	Kuboso Memorial Museum of Art, Osaka
	Water-Lilies	1907	W.1714		Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris
	Water-Lilies	1907	W.1715		Bridgestone Museum of Art, Tokyo
	Water-Lilies	1907	W.1716		Gothenburg Museum of Art
	Water-Lilies	1907	W.1717		Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris
	Water-Lilies, Reflections on the Water	1907	W.1718		Musée A André, Bagnols-sur-Cèze
	Water-Lilies, Setting Sun	1907	W.1719	73 x 93	National Gallery, London
	Water-Lilies	1907	W.1721	90 x 92
	Water-Lilies	1907	W.1723	100 x 100	Private Collection
	Water Lilies	1908	W.1724	Diam. 81	Museum of Vernon
	Water-Lilies	1908	W.1725	92 x 81
	Water-Lilies	1908	W.1726	100 x 81
	Water-Lilies	1908	W.1727	92 x 89
	Water-Lilies	1908	W.1728	92 x 89	Private collection
	Water-Lilies	1908	W.1729	Diam. 80	Dallas Museum of Art
	Water-Lilies	1908	W.1730	100 x 81
	Water-Lilies	1908	W.1731	100 x 90	Tokyo Fuji Art Museum
	Water-Lilies	1908	W.1732	100 x 81	National Museum of Wales, Cardiff
	Water-Lilies	1908	W.1733	73 x 93	Worcester Art Museum
	Water-Lilies	1908	W.1734	86 x 90
	Water-Lilies	1908	W.1735	100 x 81
	The Water-Lily Pond, Rose Arches	1914–1917	W.1781	73 x 100
	Water-Lilies with Reflections of Green Grasses	1914–1917	W.1782	130 x 200	Private collection
	Water-Lilies	1914–1917	W.1783	130 x 200	Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris
	Water-Lilies	1914–1917	W.1786	130 x 150
	Water-Lilies	1914–1917	W.1787	135 x 145
	Water-Lilies	1914–1917	W.1788	180 x 146	Fine Arts Museum, San Francisco
	Water Lilies	1914–1917	W.1789	175 x 135
	Nymphéas en fleur	1914–1917	W.1790	160 x 180	Private collection
	Water Lilies	1914–1917	W.1793	152 x 200	Asahi beer Oyamazaki Villa Museum of Art, Kyoto
	Water Lilies	1914–1917	W.1794	130 x 90	Museum of Modern Art, Gunma
	Water Lilies	1915	W. 1795	160 x 180	Portland Art Museum, Oregon
	Water-Lilies	1915	W.1796	151 x 200	Neue Pinakothek, Munich
	Water Lilies	1914–1917	W.1797	130 x 153	Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris
	Water Lilies	1914–1917	W.1798	132 x 84
	Water Lilies	1914–1917	W.1799	170 x 122
	Water Lilies	1916	W.1800	200 x 200	National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo
	White and Yellow Water Lilies	1914–1917	W.1801	200 x 200	Kunstverein, Winterthur
	Water Lilies	1914–1917	W.1802	200 x 200	Asahi beer Oyamazaki Villa Museum of Art, Kyoto
	Water Lilies	1914–1917	W.1803		Private collection
	Water Lilies	1914–1917	W.1804	200 x 215	Toledo Museum of Art
	Water Lilies	1914–1917	W.1805	160 x 180
	Water Lilies	1914–1917	W.1806	150 x 165
	Water Lilies	1914–1917	W.1807	180 x 200	National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
	Water Lilies	1914–1917	W.1808	180 x 200
	Water Lilies	1914–1917	W.1809	135 x 145
	Water Lilies	1914–1919	W.1810	120 x 200	Private collection
	Water Lilies	1914–1919	W.1811	200 x 200	Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris
	Water Lilies	1914–1917	W.1812	135 x 145	Chichu Art Museum, Naoshima
	Water Lilies	1914–1917	W.1813 (lost in fire)	180 x 200	Museum of Modern Art, New York
	Water Lilies	1914–1917	W.1814	150 x 200	Beyeler Foundation, Basel
	Water Lilies	1914–1917	W.1815	180 x 200	Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne
	Water Lilies	1914–1919	W.1816		Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris
	Water-Lilies, Cluster of Grass	1914–1917	W.1817	200 x 213	Chichu Art Museum, Naoshima
	Water-Lilies	1916–1919	W.1852	150 x 197	Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris
	Blue Water-Lilies	1916–1919	W.1853	200 x 200	Musée d'Orsay, Paris
	Water-Lilies	1916–1919	W.1854	200 x 180	Beyeler Foundation, Basel
	Water-Lilies, Reflection of a Weeping Willow	1916–1919	W.1855	130 x 88	Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris
	Water-Lilies, Reflection of a Weeping Willow	1916–1919	W.1857 (left half)		Chichu Art Museum, Naoshima
	Water-Lilies, Reflection of a Weeping Willow	1916–1919	W.1857 (right half)		Chichu Art Museum, Naoshima
	Water-Lilies, Reflections of a Weeping Willow	1916–1919	W.1858	130 x 200	Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
	Water-Lilies, Reflection of a Weeping Willow	1916–1919	W.1859	200 x 200	Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris
	Water-Lilies, Reflection of a Weeping Willow	1916–1919	W.1860	130 x 200	Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
	Water-Lilies, Reflection of a Weeping Willow	1916–1919	W.1861	130 x 197	Municipal Museum of Art, Kitakyushu
	Water-Lilies, Reflection of a Weeping Willow	1916–1919	W.1862	200 x 200	Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris
	Water-Lilies	1916–1919	W.1863	130 x 200	Museum of Art, San Antonio
	Water-Lilies	1916–1919	W.1864	130 x 152	Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris
	Vue du bassin aux nymphéas avec saule	1916–1919	W.1866	140 x 150	Private Collection
	The Water-Lily Pond	1918–1919	W.1879	120 x 89	Musée d'Art et d'Histoire, Geneva
	Jardin d'eau à Giverny	1920	W.1878	117 x 83	Museum of Grenoble
	The Water-Lily Pond	1918–1919	W.1880
	The Water-Lily Pond	1918–1919	W.1882	73 x 105	Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris
	The Water-Lily Pond	1918–1919	W.1883	130 x 200	Museum Folkwang, Essen
	The Water-Lily Pond	1917–1919	W.1885
	The Water-Lily Pond	1917–1919	W.1886	100 x 200	Musée d'Arts de Nantes
	The Water-Lily Pond	1917–1919	W.1887		Private collection
	The Water-Lily Pond	1917–1919	W.1888/1		Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris
	Water Lily Pond	1917–1926	W.1889	130.2 × 201.9	Art Institute of Chicago
	The Water Lily Pond	1917–1919	W.1890	100 x 200
	The Water-Lily Pond (left panel)	1917–1919	W.1891	101 x 200	Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
	The Water-Lily Pond (right panel)	1917–1919	W.1892	100 x 200
	The Water Lily Pond (half of original)	1917–1919	W.1893-1
	The Water Lily Pond (half of original)	1917–1919	W.1893-2	101 x 104	Private Collection
	Water Lilies	1917–1919	W.1894
	Water Lilies	1917–1919	W.1895	100 x 200	Honolulu Museum of Art
	The Water-Lily Pond	1917–1919	W.1896	100 x 200	Chichu Art Museum, Naoshima
	The Water-Lily Pond	1917–1919	W.1897
	Water-Lily Pond	1917–1919	W.1899	100 x 200	Albertina, Vienna
	The Water-Lily Pond	1917–1920	W.1900	100 x 200
	The Water-Lily Pond (left side)	1917–1920	W.1901/1		Location Unknown
	The Water-Lily Pond (right side)	1917–1920	W.1901/2	98 x 130	Private Collection
	The Water-Lily Pond	1917–1920	W.1901a	46 x 56
	The Water-Lily Pond	1917–1920	W.1901b
	Water Lilies	1919–1920	W.1902		Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris
	Water-Lily Pond, Evening (left panel)	1920–1926	W.1964		Kunsthaus Zurich
	Water-Lily Pond, Evening (right panel)	1920–1926	W.1965		Kunsthaus Zurich
	Water-Lily Pond (left half)	1920–1926	W.1966	200 x 150	Chichu Art Museum, Naoshima
	Water-Lily Pond (right half)	1920–1926	W.1967	200 x 150	Chichu Art Museum, Naoshima
	Water-Lily Pond (triptych, left panel)	1920–1926	W.1968		Beyeler Foundation, Basel
	Water-Lily Pond (triptych, center panel)	1920–1926	W.1969		Beyeler Foundation, Basel
	Water-Lily Pond (triptych, right panel)	1920–1926	W.1970		Beyeler Foundation, Basel
	Reflections of Clouds on the Water-Lily Pond (triptych, left panel)	1920–1926	W.1972	200 x 424	Museum of Modern Art, New York
	Reflections of Clouds on the Water-Lily Pond (triptych, center panel)	1920–1926	W.1973	200 x 424	Museum of Modern Art, New York
	Reflections of Clouds on the Water-Lily Pond (triptych, right panel)	1920–1926	W.1974	200 x 424	Museum of Modern Art, New York
	Water Lilies, Agapanthus (left panel)	1920–1926	W.1975	200 x 425	Cleveland Museum of Art
	Water Lilies, Agapanthus (center panel)	1920–1926	W.1976	200 x 425	Saint Louis Art Museum
	Water Lilies, Agapanthus (right panel)	1920–1926	W.1977	200 x 425	Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City
	Water-Lilies	1920–1926	W.1978	200 x 427	National Gallery, London
	The Water-Lily Pond, Green Reflections	1920–1926	W.1979		Kunsthaus Zurich
	Water-Lily Pond with Irises	1920–1926	W.1980	200 x 600	Kunsthaus Zurich
	Water Lilies	1920–1926	W.1981	200 x 600	Museum of Modern Art, New York
	Water-Lily Pond	1920–1926	W.1982	200 x 602 (lost in fire)	Museum of Modern Art, New York
	Water-Lily Pond	1920–1926	W.1983	200 x 600	Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh
	Nymphéas, le matin clair aux saules	1914–1926		200 x 1257	Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris
	Nymphéas, reflets verts	1914–1926		200 x 850	Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris
	Nymphéas, Soleil couchant	1914–1926		200 x 600	Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris
	Nymphéas, les nuages	1914–1926		200 x 1275	Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris
	Nymphéas, les deux saules	1914–1926		200 x 1700	Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris
	Nymphéas, reflets d'arbres	1914–1926		200 x 850	Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris
	Les Nymphéas	1920–1926		219 x 602	Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris

See also

In Spanish: Nenúfares (Monet) para niños

• List of paintings by Claude Monet
• Weeping Willow, 1918 Monet painting, one of several works depicting a Weeping Willow tree located at the edge of his Water Lilies pond