À propos de l’œuvre
Nymphéas, par Claude Monet
Claude Monet · circa 1915 · Neue Pinakothek 14562 · W1796
Water lilies, Neue Pinakothek W1796hand painted reproduction
More than two meters wide, the Giverny pond fills the entire field. A white flower and three pink water lilies punctuate green and red leaves, while the long branches of a willow are reflected in the water. Monet shows neither bank nor sky: the liquid surface carries plants, light and depth at the same time.
Look at the work
Four flowers emerge from blue and green water crossed by the supple reflections of a willow tree
Water lilies are distributed in irregular layers. The densest group stretches in the lower half, with leaves seen at an angle or almost from the front. Brown reds, dark greens and earthy yellows give weight to these floating discs. The flowers, rarer, thus become real points of light.
In the upper part, long green and blue touches descend like ribbons. They evoke the branches of the willow located outside the frame and reflected by the pool. These verticals intersect the horizontal movements of the water, so that the canvas oscillates between a decorative surface and a deep space.
The leaves hold the eye to the surface, while the reflections of the willow carry it underwater: the entire composition is born from this tension.
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 surface without horizons
No strip of sky or bank allows the distance to be measured. The framing immerses the viewer in the pool and makes each blue or green variation an index of light, vegetation or depth.
Four flowers as accents
The white flower and the three pink flowers remain small compared to the monumental format. Their spacing punctuates the reading and must be preserved without enlarging them or artificially reinforcing their contours.
The willow present only by its reflection
The long vertical touches do not represent underwater plants. They reflect the branches which are out of field and give the water a moving depth, very different from a uniform blue background.
Reference image
Read this specific version
The only reference image comes from the official reproduction of the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen. It measures 3,000 × 2,253 px and has been converted into a real WebP without artificial enlargement.
Uneven sheets of leaves
Water lilies are tighter in the lower half and allow more water to breathe at the top. This difference in density organizes depth without geometric perspective.
A very constructed water palette
Cobalt blue, emerald green, turquoise, purple and brown overlap. Faithful reproduction must keep these temperatures separate so that the pond remains bright even in its dark passages.
A full touch to the scale of the painting
Visible gestures remain broad because the original measures more than two meters. The contours of the leaves are made and undone in the material, while the flowers receive some more precise accents.
Documented benchmarks
Three pieces of information specific to this work
These benchmarks concern the version kept in Munich under number 14562 and listed Wildenstein 1796.
Neue Pinakothek 14562, W1796
Painted around 1915, this oil on canvas measures 151.4 × 201 cm. The instructions for the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen call it Seerosen, i.e. Water Lilies.
Acquisition on the art market
Bavarian collections acquired the painting in 1978. It now belongs to the Neue Pinakothek, whose works are presented in Munich museums during the renovation of the building.
Water occupies the entire composition
The museum's notice emphasizes the disappearance of the traditional landscape: plants and reflections are enough to build space, without horizon and without a stable terrestrial element.
Your reproduction
What the painter must preserve
Fidelity here depends on precise relationships between light, touch, depth and color temperature.
- The exact version of the Neue Pinakothek, inventory 14562 and Wildenstein 1796
- The original horizontal ratio of 151.4 × 201 cm
- The white flower and the three pink flowers maintained on their small scale
- The vertical reflections of the willow preserved in nuanced blue and green water
Work sheet
| Title | Water lilies, Neue Pinakothek W1796 |
|---|---|
| Artist | Claude Monet (1840 -1926) |
| Date | around 1915 |
| Original technique | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 151.4 × 201 cm |
| Orientation | Horizontal |
| Conservation | Neue Pinakothek - Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich, Germany |
| Inventory | 14562 · Wildenstein 1796 |
| Your reproduction | Handmade oil painting on canvas |
Presentation in your interior
A palette designed with the room
Deep blue, turquoise, willow green, pale pink and red brown give this reproduction an immersive presence. Its horizontal format is suitable above a sofa, sideboard or large desk, with natural wood and soft side light.
