Musée de l’Orangerie · 1920
Water Lilies: Green Reflections
Claude Monet
Green dominates here more than in any other panel in the cycle — Monet lets the reflected foliage take over almost the whole surface, so the water reads less as a mirror and more as a dense, planted field.
Why it matters
Green dominates here more than in any other panel in the cycle — Monet lets the reflected foliage take over almost the whole surface, so the water reads less as a mirror and more as a dense, planted field.
Look closer
Look at the bottom two corners, where clusters of lily pads and blossoms are painted with more defined, individual brushstrokes than the hazier green mass filling the centre — Monet gives you somewhere solid to land your eye before releasing you back into pure reflection.
Monet worked on these panels in a purpose-built studio at Giverny large enough to hold canvases this size, moving between several at once — this density of colour and detail is the result of years of returning to the same motif, not a single sitting in front of the pond.
Value context
ELYIO places this work in an indicative editorial context of €25.8–44.2 million.
The museum work is not for sale. This is ELYIO indicative context—not an appraisal, insurance value or offer.