Giverny, since 1893 · The water garden as a work and workshop

In Giverny, Monet built a pond then a footbridge inspired by Japan; the bridge, the water lilies, the willows and the reflections became a pictorial laboratory for almost thirty years.

In 1893, Claude Monet acquired land located on the other side of the railway near his house in Giverny. He diverts an arm of the Epte, digs a pond and creates a water garden intended both for the pleasure of the gaze and for the painting. Passionate about horticulture and collector of Japanese prints, he installed an arched footbridge whose silhouette evokes the bridges represented by Hiroshige. In 1899, Monet began a first series devoted to the bridge and to the pool. The framing still brings together the architecture of the garden: arch, bank, iris, bamboo, willows and plant depth. Little by little, water lilies and reflections occupy the surface more; the horizon disappears, the water overturns the sky and the painting tends towards a space without edges. In late versions, the bridge can become dark, massive or almost abstract, while the vegetation ignites in thick touches. The chosen works follow this evolution. There clear footbridge orders the basin like a constructed landscape. The Pink Harmony circulates the color between flowers, water and foliage. The Japanese Bridge of 1899 maintains the descriptive freshness of the first campaign. Water lilies and bridge japanese finally brings the arch and the aquatic surface closer together in a denser image. Reproducing this pattern requires preserving the balance between structure, reflection and colored material. The selection "Le Pont Japon Claude Monet" includes opposite La Passerelle sur le bassin aux nymphéas and Le Bassin aux nymphéas, pink harmony. His reading favors figures.

Monet does not just paint his garden: he draws it, plants it and transforms it so that the water, flowers and bridge become a living painting.