Claude Monet · Giverny · circa 1914–1917
Two large Iris paintings by Monet, two museums to distinguish
Around 1914–1917, Monet painted about twenty views of irises at Giverny. Irises (200.7 × 149.9 cm) is at the National Gallery in London; The Path through the Irises (200.3 × 180 cm) belongs to the Met in New York. The path, masses of flowers and broad brushwork give these canvases an almost immersive scale.
Clarifying the attribution
Irises from Giverny, not a single painting at the Musée d’Orsay
Between 1914 and 1917, Monet painted several large panels devoted to the irises bordering the paths in his water garden. French titles vary between collections and catalogues. The two strongest institutional reference points today are the National Gallery in London and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
A larger series than you might imagine
The garden seen as an architecture of colour
The National Gallery connects its panel to a group of about twenty views of the irises planted around the banks and paths of the water-lily pond. Monet was not seeking a precise inventory of varieties. He explored how a mass of flowers transforms a passage, cuts across a plane and blurs the boundary between subject and paint.
The viewpoint is unusual. The horizon disappears; earth, leaves and flowers occupy almost the entire canvas. We do not contemplate the garden from a distance: we feel suspended above the path, perhaps from the Japanese bridge.
The monumental format also changes the experience. At two metres high, a clump of irises is no longer a charming detail. It becomes a living wall. This shift in scale connects the panels to the vast project of the Grandes Décorations, begun in 1914.
Monet was no longer simply painting flowers in a garden: he was painting the sensation of entering colour.
| Reference work | Format | Construction | Collection |
|---|---|---|---|
| Irises | 200.7 × 149.9 cm, vertical | Descending path, violet and blue masses, white ground visible in places | National Gallery, London |
| The Path through the Irises | 200.3 × 180 cm, almost square | Winding central path between two very dense borders | Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
| Other panels | Similar or varying formats | Yellow and mauve irises, pond edges and paths treated in broad masses | Art Institute of Chicago, VMFA, museums and private collections |
Looking beneath the blossoms
Six elements that move the image towards abstraction
The power of these Irises comes from a paradox: we recognise the garden, but the composition no longer follows traditional landscape conventions. Without a sky or a stable horizon, colour takes charge of depth.
The absent horizon
The eye plunges into the garden. No sky provides an easy sense of distance or a conventional vanishing point.
The path
It was laid in first, then covered by the floral borders, creating a depth that remains deliberately unstable.
The broad masses
The clumps are captured as blocks rather than separate petals, amplifying their expressive power.
The white ground
The light preparation remains visible. It brings luminosity and reveals the speed of execution in certain areas.
Broad brushwork
Violets, blues and greens are applied in bold, sometimes thick strokes that embrace the canvas’s materiality.
The open edge
Flowers extend beyond the frame: the image seems to be a fragment taken from a garden continuing outside it.
Botany, gardening and painting
Why the iris was an ideal subject for Monet
The iris combines almost contradictory qualities: a sharply defined silhouette, delicate blossoms, long blade-like leaves and an immense range of colours. In a flower bed, these characteristics become a true visual grammar.
A vertical flower
The upright leaves create bundles rising through the canvas, while the blossoms open into rounder accents. Monet could thus contrast line and patch without leaving the same subject.
In a large vertical format, this growth becomes almost architectural: the eye follows the stems as it would irregular columns.
A cultivated palette
By the late nineteenth century, hybridisation had multiplied the available varieties. The National Gallery notes that the Giverny garden contained many irises, including Siberian, Japanese and Virginian varieties.
The garden was therefore not a spontaneous setting. It was planted, tended and planned to produce sequences of colours that the painter could observe and then recompose.
A Japanese motif
Irises feature in the Japanese prints Monet admired and collected. Their silhouette lends itself to asymmetrical compositions, cropped forms and views from above.
The influence does not involve literal copying: it appears in the freedom of the framing and the idea that a fragment can evoke a larger space.
A fleeting bloom
Irises do not remain in the same state for long. The garden therefore offers an experience of time: buds, open flowers, faded petals, changes of light and variations in density.
The series allowed Monet to preserve several states without seeking a definitive image. Each canvas becomes a particular response to a changing garden.
The Clos Normand
In front of the house, Monet arranged richly coloured flower beds. Paths, beds and successive blooms offered him a full-scale palette.
The water garden
Developed from 1893 onwards, it brings together a pond, water lilies, a Japanese bridge and waterside planting. Irises grow along the paths and near the water.
The large studio
From 1915 onwards, Monet worked on vast surfaces. The garden was no longer simply an outdoor subject: it became an environment recomposed in the studio.
The water garden at Giverny
The bridge, planting and pond help you recognise the setting described in these reference points.
From the garden to the Grandes Décorations
A chronology explaining the change of scale
The iris panels belong to a period of renewed activity. Monet returned to his garden with a new ambition: to envelop the viewer and move beyond the easel painting.
Settling in
Monet rented and then bought the property at Giverny. He gradually transformed the land into a garden governed by colours, seasons and viewpoints.
Creating the pond
He acquired a neighbouring plot, diverted a branch of the Epte and developed the water garden. The bridge and planting became recurring subjects.
Painting water
The first water-lily series opened an exploration that gradually reduced the horizon’s role and brought the painted surface closer to the surface of the water.
Enlarging
Irises, water lilies and paths were revisited on large canvases. The First World War formed the historical context, but the garden remained central to his work.
Enveloping
Monet donated his large Water Lilies panels to the State after the Armistice. They would be installed at the Orangerie in 1927, a few months after his death.
Looking accurately
Four keys to understanding Monet’s late painting
1. Incompleteness can be a method
The National Gallery canvas is very open along its right edge and reveals the white ground. Since it remained in Monet’s studio when he died, it is difficult to assert that he considered it finished.
But these unpainted areas are not necessarily simple omissions. They let air circulate, contrast dense and light areas and reveal how the image was constructed.
2. Cataracts do not explain everything
Monet’s visual problems may have altered his perception of colours and details. The National Gallery cautiously suggests this possibility in relation to broader gestures and heightened contrasts.
Yet reducing these works to an impairment would overlook the choice of format, the series, the memory of the subject and decades of research into light.
3. Japonisme influences the framing
Monet collected Japanese prints. The view from above, forms cropped by the frame and absence of a single centre recall a conception of space different from traditional Western perspective.
Irises themselves appear in prints he knew; the plant and the approach to framing thus come together in the garden.
4. The decorative is an ambition
For Monet, “decorative” did not mean secondary. He envisioned ensembles capable of occupying walls, abolishing the painting’s edge and producing an enveloping meditation.
The irises ultimately did not feature in the cycle installed at the Orangerie, but a photograph from 1920 suggests that he had considered including them in the project.
In the shop
Six works for exploring Monet’s garden
All these product pages are active and illustrated. They allow you to compare views of irises, pond banks and water landscapes within the world of Giverny.
The Path through the Irises
A winding path captured from a high viewpoint, between two masses of flowers.
View the work →Yellow Irises
A luminous palette highlighting the vertical structure of the leaves and stems.
View the work →Yellow and Mauve Irises
The dialogue between complementary colours builds depth without relying on a horizon.
View the work →The Water-Lily Pond with Irises
The waterside flowers frame the water and connect the garden’s two major subjects.
View the work →
Field of Yellow Irises
A more expansive horizontal view in which the blossoms become a band of light.
View the work →
Water Lilies
The water’s surface absorbs the sky and continues the disappearance of the horizon.
View the work →Museums and thematic explorations
Eight ways to continue discovering the Irises
Two museums hold the series’ major reference works; six shop collections then broaden the exploration towards Giverny, Water Lilies, flowers and Impressionism.
National Gallery
The museum that holds Irises, a large vertical panel from the series.
Explore →Metropolitan Museum
The collection connected to the monumental Path through the Irises.
Explore →
Claude Monet
The main exploration, from the Normandy coast to the final Giverny canvases.
Explore →
Giverny
Fields, haystacks, gardens and ponds painted around the property.
Explore →
Monet’s Garden
A focused selection of flower beds, paths, bridges and blossoms.
Explore →
Water Lilies
The water landscapes leading to the Grandes Décorations.
Explore →
Musée Marmottan Monet
A major collection for following Monet, his series and his legacy.
Explore →
Impressionism
Compare explorations of light, series and brushwork across the movement.
Explore →Decorating advice
Which Iris reproduction should you choose?
Format and palette strongly alter the effect. Vertical panels create the sensation of a garden rising around the viewer; horizontal views offer a calmer breathing space.
For an entrance hall
A vertical format naturally complements a console table or narrow section of wall. Mauves and greens add depth without darkening the space if the ground remains light.
For a living room
An almost square or horizontal version works better above a sofa. Leave generous space around the frame so that the brushwork remains readable.
For a gentle interior
Yellow irises brighten beige, ecru or light-wood décor; mauves suit sage greens, warm greys and muted violets.
Looking at the vertical format
The complete composition helps you assess the proportions before choosing a location.
| Version | Room | Effect | Pairing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Large vertical format | Entrance hall, stairwell, wall between two openings | Immersion and height | Light wood, sage green, aged brass |
| Almost square format | Living room, bedroom, study | Balanced presence | Ecru, greyed mauve, oak |
| Yellow irises | Dining room, dimly lit room | Brightness and warmth | Off-white, terracotta, olive green |
| Irises and water lilies | Quiet living room, bedroom | Depth and continuity | Greyed blue, linen, dark wood |
Frequently asked questions
Monet’s Irises: verified answers
When did Monet paint his large Irises?
The main series is dated to around 1914–1917, when Monet revived his project of large compositions devoted to the Giverny garden.
Is the painting shown at the Musée d’Orsay?
No. The attribution to the Musée d’Orsay was incorrect. The large reference panel Irises is held at the National Gallery in London; a related composition, The Path through the Irises, belongs to the Met.
How many views of irises did Monet paint?
The National Gallery refers to about twenty views of irises around the banks and paths of the water garden, painted circa 1914–1917.
How large is the London panel?
It measures 200.7 × 149.9 cm. This height of almost two metres transforms the garden scene into a monumental experience.
From where did Monet observe the path?
The downward viewpoint gives the impression that he was looking from the Japanese bridge towards the iris-bordered path.
Why do some areas look unfinished?
The white ground remains visible and the right edge is very open. Since the canvas remained in the studio when Monet died, we do not know whether he considered it finished.
Do cataracts explain the late colours?
They probably influenced his perception, but the large formats, contrasts and broad brushwork also reflect a conscious and sustained pictorial exploration.
Are the Irises part of the Orangerie panels?
No, the cycle installed at the Orangerie does not include irises. Photographic documents nevertheless suggest that Monet had considered including them in the project.
Which format is best for a reproduction?
A vertical format respects the enveloping effect of the London panel. An almost square composition is better suited to a wide living-room wall.
Which colours go with Monet’s Irises?
Mauves, sage greens, ecrus, muted yellows and natural woods extend the palette without creating overly literal décor.
Institutional sources
Real photograph of the location
Giverny, the real location
This photograph taken on site shows Claude Monet’s garden and its Japanese bridge.
Photo: Pierre André Leclercq — CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
A garden turned into painting
Choosing a work that does more than put flowers on the wall
Monet’s late Irises bring together gardening, memory, colour and gesture. Their monumentality comes from more than size: it arises from framing that removes the horizon and places us directly within the flower bed.
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