Water Lilies — second oval room

Are you in the second room now?

If there's an empty seat on one of the benches in the center, please have a seat and listen comfortably.

This room features Monet's Water Lilies with morning as their theme.

Just like in the first room, take your time and enjoy the paintings in a calm, meditative way.

When you're finished, continue listening.

Today, Monet's paintings are loved around the world. But when his Water Lilies series was first unveiled at the Orangerie in 1927, people showed very little interest in them.

That's because abstract art was dominating the art world at the time, while Impressionism was already being treated as an outdated, almost classical style.

Isn't that interesting?

Impressionism itself had emerged as a rebellion against traditional art, yet with the passage of time, it too came to be regarded as something traditional.

In fact, when other exhibitions were held at the Orangerie, Monet's paintings were sometimes even hidden behind temporary walls.

But as time passed, Monet's work suddenly began to gain popularity—not here in France, but across the Atlantic in the United States.

This was after World War II.

At the time, American artists like Jackson Pollock were creating abstract paintings by swinging their brushes and splattering paint, making recognizable forms almost disappear.

But now, take a look at Monet's Water Lilies.

If you look closely, the paint is layered so thickly over the pond and water lilies that it's almost impossible to tell what you're looking at. All you can really see are the brushstrokes.

The forms almost seem to dissolve.

When abstract artists saw this, they were deeply impressed.

They realized that Monet wasn't simply painting a pond. He was breaking down recognizable forms to capture the sensation of light and water, allowing the paint itself to become part of the expression.

In other words, Monet's late Water Lilies, with their dissolving forms and emphasis on pure color, came to be seen as an important precursor to abstract art.

And that's when Monet's popularity began to soar in the United States.

That renewed appreciation eventually made its way back across the Atlantic to France, where Monet's work once again became highly popular.

And that popularity has continued to this day.

Now, take your time and enjoy the Water Lilies.

When you're ready, walk back through the first room and continue a little farther. You'll find a staircase on your left leading downstairs.

Follow the stairs down to the basement level, where we'll explore the Jean Walter and Paul Guillaume Collection.