The Many Paintings of Water Lilies by Claude Monet

In this post, I will feature some of the paintings of water lilies by Claude Monet which were created during his lifetime. All up, I located a staggering 250-plus paintings of water lilies.

This post is the third in a series where I discuss paintings of the same subjects by Claude Monet. Previously we discussed:

Claude Monet’s Rouen Cathedral Paintings

Claude Monet’s Haystack Paintings

These paintings depict Monet’s flower gardens at his home in Giverny, which were the primary focus of Monet’s paintings for the last 30 years of his life.

Interestingly, Monet started to develop cataracts around 1900, which deteriorated his vision and influenced the paintings of his later years. Many of the paintings of water lilies were painted whilst Monet suffered cataracts.  In Monet’s later paintings of water lilies, you can clearly see his color selection became more unusual compared to the rest of his body of work. This is most likely due to his deteriorating vision at the time rather than personal preference.

Here is some actual footage of Monet painting in his gardens when he was 74.

Claude Monet - Filmed Painting Outdoors (1915)

I also found an interesting article that goes into more detail regarding Monet’s cataracts and how they influenced his paintings here.

When you look at these paintings, you almost feel immersed in nature. The colors and brushwork give the illusion that the water lilies are floating in a peaceful space.

The paintings are a fantastic demonstration of color harmony and light. As with the other series of paintings by Claude Monet (the Rouen Cathedral and Haystacks) every painting is unique in some way, despite the same subject being used.

When most people think of Claude Monet, they think of these beautiful and harmonious paintings of water lilies, many of which were painted on a very large scale. However, they were not nearly as popular when they were first painted by Monet, probably due to the more expressionistic style they were painted in.

Anyway, below are over 50 of Claude Monet’s beautiful paintings of water lilies. Just click on the photos below to see larger versions.

(Before diving into this post, make sure to pick up a copy of my free Landscape Painting Starter Kit.)

Thanks for Reading!

I appreciate you taking the time to read this post and I hope you found it helpful. Feel free to share it with friends. If you ever want to learn more, check out my Painting Academy course.

Happy painting!

Dan Scott

Draw Paint Academy

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Dan Scott is the founder of Draw Paint Academy. He's a self-taught artist from Australia with a particular interest in landscape painting. Draw Paint Academy is run by Dan and his wife, Chontele, with the aim of helping you get the most out of the art life. You can read more on the About page.

8 comments on “The Many Paintings of Water Lilies by Claude Monet”

  1. Fascinating and just as I am attempting—yes, a painting of waterlilies. Sometimes, things like this happen just as they are needed.

    Reply
    • Hi Mettje. It may have been what he saw. One cannot truely know the answer. But my understanding was that he was not able to see colors accurately at the time of those later paintings.

      Thanks

      Dan

      Reply
  2. Where do I take a painting I found inside an old house that was given to my wife and I it was the only thing in the house that was still just hanging on the wall….few facts about the house it was one of the first settlements built in the 1880s it’s located in Martins Ferry Ohio my wife and I currently live in Columbus Ohio and are looking for somewhere to take this beautiful painting we have we would like to have it checked out could you or anyone else maybe help us to see where to take this wonderful painting

    Reply

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