À propos de l’œuvre
Nymphéas blancs et jaunes, par Claude Monet
Claude Monet · circa 1915 -1917 · Kunst Museum Winterthur KV 843 · W1801
White and yellow water lilies, Winterthur W1801hand painted reproduction
Over a two-meter square, the pond becomes the whole world. Green, purple and red water lilies are divided into several layers, interrupted by white flowers with yellow hearts. The water, almost black in certain passages, is crossed by deep blue and vertical reflections. No horizon stabilizes this moving depth.
Look at the work
White and yellow flowers appear on dark water where green, purple and red leaves form several layers
Water lilies are not evenly distributed. A large and dense group occupies the bottom, another stretches in the center, while the upper part allows more water and reflections to be seen. This succession gives the gaze several distances without using a linear perspective.
The lightest flowers are mainly concentrated in the lower half. Their white contains blue, pink and green; their yellow centers serve as small light sources. Around them, red and purple lines highlight the leaves and make the material more vibrant than descriptive.
The leaves hold the surface in front of the eye, while the vertical reflections open an almost abstract depth beneath them.
Composition, touch and light
What Monet builds behind the impression of snapshot
Three precise elements allow us to understand this composition and the essential difficulties of faithful reproduction.
A monumental square without horizon
The two by two meter format locks the viewer in the surface of the pool. Any added shoreline or sky would destroy the desired immersion.
White flowers that are never neutral
The petals mix off-white, blue, pink and green around yellow centers. These temperatures provide light without producing harsh white spots.
Water built in dark layers
Blue, purple, green, black and brown overlap behind the leaves. Depth depends on these internal differences and not on a simple black background.
Reference image
Read this specific version
The single reference image measures 4,236 × 4,260 px. It corresponds to Winterthur's KV 843 canvas and has been converted into a true high-resolution WebP without artificial enlargement.
Three densities of water lilies
The very busy bottom, the rhythmic center and the more open top give the composition its vertical progression. The gaps between groups are as large as the leaves.
Very active complements
Greens and reds, yellows and purples, blues and oranges intersect in the contours and flowers. Their balance maintains the vibration of the canvas despite its dark range.
A late and free material
The broad gestures remain visible and several shapes are reduced to colored circles or filaments. Reproduction must restore this frankness without smoothing the surface.
Documented benchmarks
Three pieces of information specific to this work
This information concerns the White and Yellow Water Lilies of the Kunst Museum Winterthur, inventory KV 843 and Wildenstein 1801.
Kunst Museum Winterthur KV 843, W1801
This oil on square canvas, painted around 1915 -1917, measures 200 × 200 cm. It is kept under inventory number KV 843.
Donation of the Galerieverein to the Winterthur Museum
The Galerieverein donated the work to the Kunst Museum Winterthur in 1952. The museum's notice underlines the pioneering nature of this purchase of a large late Monet.
The sky and the shore exist only as reflections
The museum describes a composition where the pond occupies the entire field. Circular gestures indicate the leaves, while long vertical blue touches animate the water and suggest what is out of frame.
Your reproduction
What the painter must preserve
Fidelity here depends on precise relationships between light, touch, depth and color temperature.
- The exact version of Winterthur, inventory KV 843 and Wildenstein 1801
- The original monumental square format of 200 × 200 cm
- The white flowers kept colorful around their yellow centers
- The blue-purple depth preserved between the water lily layers
Work sheet
| Title | White and yellow water lilies, Winterthur W1801 |
|---|---|
| Artist | Claude Monet (1840 -1926) |
| Date | around 1915 -1917 |
| Original technique | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 200 × 200 cm |
| Orientation | Square |
| Conservation | Kunst Museum Winterthur, Winterthur, Switzerland |
| Inventory | KV 843 · Wildenstein 1801 |
| Your reproduction | Handmade oil painting on canvas |
Presentation in your interior
A palette designed with the room
Midnight blue, deep green, purple, carmine red and bright yellow give this square reproduction a spectacular presence. It requires a clear wall in a living room, entrance or reception area, with side lighting that reveals the material.
