Water Lilies (Monet series) Facts for Kids

This page is about the series of paintings. For other uses, see Water lily.

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, Museum of Modern Art, New York City

The Water Lilies (called Nymphéas in French) is a famous group of about 250 oil paintings by the French artist Claude Monet. He was a very important painter in the Impressionist art movement. These paintings show the beautiful flower garden at his home in Giverny, France. Monet spent the last 30 years of his life mostly painting these water lilies. He even continued painting them when he had cataracts, which affected his eyesight.

What Inspired Monet's Water Lilies?
Where Can You See the Water Lilies?
Water Lilies at Art Auctions
Gallery
Images for kids
See also

What Inspired Monet's Water Lilies?

Claude Monet loved to paint many pictures of the same subject. He would show them in a series, like a collection. He started doing this in 1889 with paintings of the Valley of the Creuse. Another famous series he painted was his Haystacks. This way, he could explore how light and colors changed at different times of day or in different seasons.

Where Can You See the Water Lilies?

In the 1920s, the country of France built special oval rooms at the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris. These rooms were made just for eight large water lily murals by Monet. The museum opened to the public in May 1927, shortly after Monet passed away. In 1999, many water lily paintings from all over the world were brought together for a special show at this museum.

Today, you can find Monet's Water Lilies in museums around the globe. Some of these include the Princeton University Art Museum, the Musée Marmottan Monet and the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Other museums displaying them are the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Saint Louis Art Museum. In 2020, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston celebrated its 150th birthday with some of these amazing paintings.

Water Lilies at Art Auctions

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

Some of Monet's Water Lilies paintings have been sold for very high prices at auctions. An auction is a public sale where items are sold to the highest bidder.

In June 2007, one painting sold for about £18.5 million (around $23 million USD) in London.
A year later, in June 2008, another painting called Le Bassin Aux Nymphéas sold for almost £41 million (around $51 million USD). This was nearly twice what experts thought it would sell for!
In May 2010, a 1906 Nymphéas painting was going to be auctioned. Experts thought it would sell for £30 to £40 million. Giovanna Bertazzoni, an expert from Christie's auction house, said that Monet's water lily paintings are "amongst the most recognised and celebrated works of the 20th Century." However, this painting did not sell at that auction.
In May 2014, another Le Bassin aux Nymphéas painting was sold for $27 million in New York City.
Just a month later, in June 2014, a Nymphéas painting sold for $54 million USD at an auction in London. The buyer was kept secret. This painting later became part of a special art show called "Painting the Modern Garden: From Monet to Matisse."

Even though many of Monet's masterpieces have been sold, there are still about 250 oil paintings in this series. Many of these beautiful artworks are in museums and have not been put up for auction. A person named Daniel Wildenstein has made a complete list of all of Monet's paintings in his book, Monet: Catalogue Raisonné.