Water-Lilies, Setting Sun
- Artist: Claude Monet
- Date: about 1907
- Medium: oil on canvas
- Museum: The National Gallery
- Collection record: The National Gallery website
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About this artwork
This is the "Water-Lilies, Setting Sun" by Claude Monet. Painted in about 1907, this oil on canvas work is a part of an extended series of views of the water-lily pond at Monet's home in Giverny.
Monet devoted himself to painting this water garden, producing over 250 innovative canvases. As he experimented with light and color, he gradually abandoned traditional depictions of the banks of the pond and its surroundings, instead focusing on the subtle modulations of light as it transformed the water and its reflections.
In "Water-Lilies, Setting Sun", we see a glimpse of this process in action. The only hint to help us situate ourselves is the clump of plants in the bottom left corner, indicating the approximate position of the bank. We're looking down on the surface of the pond, with pink and yellow light from the setting sun shimmering on the still water.
The interplay between the horizontal lily pads and dark vertical reflections creates a sense of depth and flatness at the same time. This painting is an example of Monet's radical departure from traditional landscape painting, where he concentrated on capturing the fleeting effects of light and color.
See it in person
Water-Lilies, Setting Sun hangs in The National Gallery on Trafalgar Square, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
