Water Lilies
The Water Lilies (Series), 1900-1926
Claude Monet
Oil on Canvas
Giverny, France
During the last years of Claude Monet's life, the depiction of his final series" The Water Lilies" is one of the most popular with over 250 oil paintings. The impressionist painter moved downstream on the Seine from Paris in Giverny in 1883. In 1893, Monet bought the land in front of his home and built a Japanese style garden. His elaborate flower garden used a small stream that ran through his property to build a pond which he filled with water lilies. He Added a humpback bridge and lined the banks with willows and shrubbery.
The painter imported water lilies for his Giverny garden from Egypt and South America. In the last hundred years, water lilies discovery has been followed closely. They were found in the jungle of South America by white explorers who had been captivated by the large and fragrant flower in the middle of freshwater lagoons. The South American natives gave the water lily the name' Yrupe' meaning water platter. The cultivation if water lilies began more than 3000 years.
The water lily is from the Nymphaeaceae family, with 58 species in 6 genera of freshwater plants that are native to the temperate and tropical parts of the world. Fossils of lilies were huge, showing pads to be up to four feet wide. There has been evidence that water lilies have been found in European pre-ice age cave drawings. The first types have similar form and structure that exists among the species today.
Water lilies are perennial aquatic herbs that live in temperate and tropical climates around the world. The plants root in the soil of bodies of water, with round leaves and flowers floating on the surface. Water lily flowers can be pink, yellow, blue, or white, other colors are known as hybrids. The most common in North American white water lily also known as the pond, in Europe it is known as a European white lily. These both have reddish leaves when young and large fragrant flowers. Under the leaf, there are blades as a source of protection. There is fruit that is usually nutlike or berrylike. Some fruits ripen underwater until they rupture or decay, and the seeds then float away or sink for new plants to be grown.
"Nymphaea" is the botanical name for a water lily. The word nymphéa comes from the Greek word numphé, meaning nymph. The flower name comes from a Classical myth that attributes a nymph who was dying of love for Hercules. According to Greek mythology, a water lily means a feminine spirit that inhabited water bodies like wells, waterways, and spring.
Over 40 of Monet's painting were large format, and three were sown into large tapestry's. In a few paintings, Monet features a new species of water lily that had been artificially created, giving them striking pink and red blossoms. Besides creating artificial flowers, he also saw success in the auction house. In June 2007, one of Monet's Water Lily paintings sold for £18.5 million at a Sotheby's auction in London. In June 2008 another Water Lily paintings sold for almost £41 million at Christie's in London. Then in June 2014, one of the Water Lilies, Nymphéas, sold for $54 million at a Sotheby's auction in London.
Besides the economic value of The Water Lilies Series, the water lilies have become a popular ornamental plant. The lily is known as the birth flower for July. The White Water Lily is the national flower and the seal of Bangladesh and state flower of Andhra Pradesh in India. The Blue Water Lily is the national flower of Sri Lanka. In Chinese culture, lilies are a popular Chinese wedding flower, as they symbolize a happy union that lasts for 100 years.
Lilies also make important religious symbols. In Hindu and Buddhist traditions, they symbolize resurrection because many varieties of the lilies close their flowers at night and reopen in the morning. Buddhists see the water lily as a symbol of enlightenment because of the beautiful bloom that emerges from the mud. The water lily is also considered a symbol of purity, spontaneous generation, and divine birth.
The water lily has a special place in literature and legends. In Sangam literature and Tamil poetics, water lilies are considered symbolic of the grief of separation; they also evoke imagery of the sunset, the seashore, and the shark. In a legend, it is said the water lily was once a star that fell from the sky onto the water and transformed into a flower.
As you can see, water lily symbolize new spirits and new wishes. They are optimistic symbols of delight and happiness and sometimes sadness. But for Claude Monet, these flowers became his obsession while he lived his life in his beautiful garden.