Into Monet's Garden At De Young San Francisco

Throughout Claude Monet's career, he remained dedicated to the close observation of nature and his elaborate garden. He spent great energy and expense studying horticulture, consulting with specialists, and commiserating with fellow plant enthusiasts. In his early days at the Pressoir, Monet tended the garden with his children; as his designs became more ambitious, he went on to employ eight gardeners. 

Monet's water-lily pond was the most important feature of his garden. Ensuring the crystalline quality of the water and the vibrancy of the lilies required one gardener to skim the pond's surface on a daily basis and dunk the lilies to remove the dust generated by the nearby road. Monet even went as far as to fund the paving of the surrounding roads to prevent dust from accumulating. The pond offered an ever changing reflective surface that captured the color of the lilies, the foliage of the adjacent weeping willows, and the changing effects of the clouds.

In 1914, after his self-imposed two-year break from painting following the death of his second wife, Monet embarked on a new series of water-lily paintings. Marked by gestural brushwork and increasingly larger formats, these works are a bold departure. Many of these compositions lack horizon lines, resulting in often spatially disoriented views. On this same impressive scale, Monet also painted irises, dallies, and agapanthuses growing at the water's edge. All are viewable at the De Young in San Francisco till May 27th.