Water Lilies 28

Monet took part in the joint exhibitions of the Impressionists up until 1879, when he decided no longer to show his work at them, and in 1883 his first one-man show was organized by Durand-Ruel. In that same year he moved to the house at Givemy, whose garden was to inspire the famous series of the Water Lilies (Musee de l'Orangerie, Paris) (Please search water lily or water lilies in our website to see the paintings.), to which he would devote himself from 1908 until his death in 1926.
The paintings are studies of the same subject under different conditions of atmospheric light and almost turn into exercises of abstract painting, so great is the emphasis on color and scant the concern for a "photographic" representation of the pool with its flowers. But the artist had already shown his interest in the execution of a series of works depicting the same subject at different times of day and varying conditions of light. In 1892-94 he painted perhaps the most celebrated of these series, devoted to the facade of Rouen Cathedral (please search Rouen Cathedral in our website to see the paintings.)