Cat. 37  Water Lily Pond, 1900

Monet Paintings and Drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago

At the top, dense green trees and hanging foliage frame a gently arched footbridge that runs left to right. Below the bridge, shrubs and tall grasses cluster along both banks, with darker greens on the left and brighter greens on the right. The lower half is a pond covered with blue‑green lily pads and small pink and white flowers. Reflections of the bridge and plants ripple across the water, with lily pads in the foreground appearing larger than those farther back.

Cat. 37

Water Lily Pond^[1]
1900
Oil on canvas; 89.8 × 101 cm (35 3/8 × 39 3/4 in.)
Signed and dated: Claude Monet 1900 (upper left, in dark-red paint)
The Art Institute of Chicago, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Larned Coburn Memorial Collection, 1933.441

Technical Report
Provenance
Exhibition History
Selected References
Other Documentation

Crafting the Motif

In 1890, Claude Monet purchased the house he had been renting in Giverny since 1883. His reason, as he explained to his dealer, Paul Durand-Ruel, was that he was “certain never to find … so beautiful a region.”^[2] A long-time gardening enthusiast, Monet set about renovating the grounds, carefully supplementing the flower beds with plantings so that the gardens would be in bloom all season long.^[3] In February 1893, the artist acquired additional land across the train tracks at the south end of the property, where he envisioned adding a water garden. He applied for permission to divert water from a branch of the Epte River for a pond and to build two bridges. In spite of local concern over his proposal, by July Monet received the necessary permits to proceed with his project, and within a few months the thousand-square-meter pond and a Japanese-inspired wooden bridge were completed (fig. 37.1).1

At the top, a pale gray sky and tall trees form the background, with long weeping branches hanging on the left and right. Across the center, a small arched footbridge with simple railings spans a still pond, and its curve is reflected in the water below. The foreground shows the pond’s edge with dense grasses and low plants, plus scattered leaves on the ground. — Fig. 37.1

View, looking east, of the Japanese bridge in Monet’s garden at Giverny, probably 1893. Photograph © Collection Philippe Piguet.

In his application to the Eure department prefect, Monet had argued that a water garden would be “agreeable and for the pleasure of the eyes,” but he offered another reason as well, that he intended to mine the picturesque setting for subject matter.^[4] He treated his Japanese bridge at least twice in 1895 and the theme of the water lily at least eight times in 1897–98.^[5] In the summers of 1899 and 1900, interrupted only by working trips to London (see cats. 38–41), he concentrated exclusively on this motif, producing a group of eighteen paintings featuring his Japanese bridge and pond. These summer campaigns also coincided with further renovations on his property—by May 1901, Monet had purchased additional land with the intention of enlarging the water lily pond (fig. 37.2). Crafting his garden environment and painting the fruits of his labor would preoccupy Monet for much of the rest of his life (see cat. 44, cat. 46 and cat. 47).^[6]2

Top half shows a rectangular garden plan bordered by “Rue Claude‑Monet,” with labeled areas including the house (1), the second studio (2), the Nymphéas studio (3), and the greenhouses (4), set among rectangular beds, trees, and paths; an entrance is marked at the top center. A horizontal band across the middle marks transit lines: the railroad (D) with parallel roads to Vernon (E) and Gasny (F). Bottom half shows the water garden (B) with a large irregular water‑lily pond (b), a narrow water duct (a), several Japanese footbridges (d), and an underground passage (e) linking to the upper garden, with the River Ru (G) along the lower edge. The plan is printed in black lines and labels on a light tan background. — Fig. 37.2

Map of Monet’s garden at Giverny, including the addition on the other side of the railroad tracks. Reproduced from Paul Hayes Tucker, *Monet in the 20th Century* (Yale University Press, 1998.)

Animating the Motif

During the summer of 1899, Monet worked on twelve pictures of the pond, directly facing the Japanese bridge that spanned the width of the canvas. Although most of the paintings from the 1899 group are similar in size (nearly square), depict basically the same compositional elements, and feature a rather cool palette (e.g., fig. 37.3 [W1515]), Monet tweaked some of the viewpoints, especially through his use of differently formatted canvases and slight variations in the cropping of forms (e.g., fig. 37.4 [W1517] and fig. 37.5 [W1518]).^[7] The related six paintings Monet painted the following summer—including the Art Institute’s Water Lily Pond—similarly feature the Japanese bridge, but the viewpoints vary more significantly. None include the perfect arch of the bridge from head on; Monet, rather, has moved himself to the left and back, making visible a larger number of the plantings on the bank in the foreground and presenting the structure seen asymmetrically and less dramatically arched (see also fig. 37.6 [W1630] and fig. 37.7 [W1633]).^[8] This reinforced associations between his works and the spatial constructs and subject matter used in prints by Japanese artist Utagawa Hiroshige (see fig. 37.8, fig. 37.9), a number of whose woodblock prints were in his personal collection.^[9]3

Figs. 37.3–37.9

Top section shows dense green and yellow foliage, with a drooping willow on the right. Across the middle, a pale blue arched footbridge spans left to right above the water. The lower half is a pond covered with green lily pads and scattered pink‑white blossoms, with tall grasses at the edges and plant reflections across the surface. — Fig. 37.3

Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926). *Water-Lily Pond, Symphony in Green*, 1899. Oil on canvas; 89.5 × 92.5 cm (35 1/4 × 36 3/8 in.). Musée d’Orsay, Paris, RF. 2004. © Musée d’Orsay, Paris.

At the top, dense green trees and shrubs fill the background. Across the upper middle, a teal arched footbridge stretches left to right above a broad pond. Below, the water is covered with round green lily pads dotted with pink, white, and a few yellow water lilies, with tall grasses and plants in various greens lining the sides; the footbridge appears narrow and sized for a person to walk across. — Fig. 37.4

Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926). *The Japanese Footbridge*, 1899. Oil on canvas; 81.3 × 101.6 cm (32 × 40 in.). National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., gift of Victoria Nebeker Coberly, in memory of her son John W. Mudd, and Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg, 1992.9.1. Image courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington.

At the top, dense green foliage fills the scene, with long drooping leaves on the left. Across the middle, a pale blue-green arched footbridge runs left to right with three vertical posts in front of the greenery. In the lower half, a pond is covered with green lily pads and many white and pale pink water lilies, with dark green and brown water visible between them; the bridge spans most of the width while the pads and flowers are small and spread across the surface. — Fig. 37.5

Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926). *Bridge over a Pond of Water Lilies*, 1899. Oil on canvas; 92.7 × 73.7 cm (36 1/2 × 29 in.). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929, 29.100.113. Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Image Source: Art Resource, NY.

Top section shows dense greenery with drooping willow-like branches in shades of green and yellow. Across the middle, a curved footbridge stretches left to right, colored bluish gray with hints of purple. The bottom half is a pond with rippling reflections in green, yellow, blue, and brown, dotted with small pink‑white water lilies; thick plants with dark green leaves cluster at the lower left and reddish‑brown foliage lines the right side. — Fig. 37.6

Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926). The Water Lily Pond, 1900. Oil on canvas; 90.2 × 92.7 cm (35 1/2 × 36 1/2 in.). Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 61.959. Photograph © 2014 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Top area shows a purplish sky and tall willow trees with drooping green and yellow leaves. Across the middle, dense shrubs on the left lead to a small blue‑gray arched bridge that spans from right to center, with thick greenery behind it; the bridge is smaller than the trees but larger than the surrounding grasses. The lower area contains a pond covered with light green lily pads and scattered pale pink and white flowers, bordered by tall grasses and reeds, with patches of reddish‑brown ground at the bottom left. — Fig. 37.7

Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926). *Path along the Water-Lily Pond*, 1900. Oil on canvas; 89 × 100 cm (35 1/16 × 39 3/8 in.). Private collection, United States.

At the top, dark gray clouds send long slanting lines of rain over a wide blue river. Across the middle distance, a dark band of trees stretches left to right with a small tower-like structure on the right; near center-left, a small boat with one person standing and using a pole sits on the water. In the lower half, a large wooden bridge spans diagonally from lower left toward the right, its tall supports visible below, and several people walk across it, some leaning forward and some holding umbrellas or wearing yellow straw hats with clothing in blue, green, and red. — Fig. 37.8

Utagawa Hiroshige (Japanese, 1797–1858). *Sudden Shower over Shin-Ohashi Bridge and Atake (Ohashi Atake no yudachi)*, from the series *One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei),* 1857. Color woodblock print; 33.4 × 21.8 cm (13 1/4 × 8 5/8 in.). The Art Institute of Chicago, gift of H. R. Warner, 1925.3742.

Top area shows red-orange tree canopies surrounding a light brown wooden bridge, where a few small figures cross. Middle section has steep pale yellow cliffs with green streaks rising on both sides of a narrow gorge, with more trees; in the distance are blue-gray mountains beneath a yellow-to-blue sky. Foreground features a swirling blue river flowing between the cliffs, and vertical rectangular panels with Japanese characters appear along the right edge and left side in blue and red. — Fig. 37.9

Utagawa Hiroshige (Japanese, 1797–1858). *Kai Province: Monkey Bridge (Kai, Saruhashi), from the series “Famous Places in the Sixty-odd Provinces [of Japan] ([Dai Nihon] Rokujuyoshu meisho zue),”* 1853. Color woodblock print, 35.4 × 24.5 cm (13 15/16 × 9 5/8 in.). The Art Institute of Chicago, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Harold G. Henderson, 1965.960.

The series of water lily pond paintings from the summers of 1899 and 1900 as a whole is strikingly divergent from those groups he had painted earlier in the 1890s, and, as has been discussed by the art historian Paul Tucker, they seem to recall Monet’s Impressionist roots.^[10] Certainly the incorporation of active brushwork in boldly juxtaposed colors used in Water Lily Pond diverges from the smoother strokes and blended, tonal palette of the works in his most recent series Mornings on the Seine (see fig. 37.10) (cat. 36 [W1475]) and is perhaps more akin to the paintings Monet produced in the 1870s during his classic Impressionist phase.^[11] Notably also, Monet mapped out the composition for Water Lily Pond by laying in zones of thin, colored washes, as opposed to building up his surface with areas of paint that he let dry before covering them with additional paint layers (see Technical Report/Paint Application).4

Top area shows pale lavender, light blue, and soft pink, with a darker blue-violet patch along the upper left. Moving downward, the center opens into a large, light field of bluish-lilac with subtle gray, brighter than the edges. The left side from top to bottom carries the densest, mottled blues, purples, and hints of green, while the right half fades to very light pink, cream, and lilac. Darkest tones cluster along the left edge; the center and right are lighter and more diffuse. — Fig. 37.10

Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926). *Branch of the Seine near Giverny (Mist)*, 1897. Oil on canvas; 89.9 × 92.7 cm (35 3/8 × 36 1/2 in.). The Art Institute of Chicago, Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection, 1933.1156.

Exhibiting the Motif

The novel quality of Monet’s Water Lily Pond paintings did not go unnoticed by his contemporaries, and it seems likely that he himself was keen to publicize the change in his work. When Durand-Ruel organized a show of Monet’s recent works in late 1900, twelve of the twenty-six works included were dedicated to the water lily motif.^[12] The Art Institute’s Water Lily Pond was not one of those exhibited in this show; the fact that Monet signed and dated it, and sold it to Léonce Rosenberg around the time of the exhibition suggests that the artist considered it completed.^[13]5

The series was not embraced as widely as others that he exhibited in the 1890s, however. While some remarked on its dazzling radiance, others criticized a lack of variety of the vantage points.^[14] Charles Saunier, the art critic for La revue blanche, for example, enthusiastically praised the overall exhibition—which also included works from Monet’s earlier series—but in response to the Water Lily Pond paintings, he remarked: “In front of these pictures, one senses the secret design of a cinematographer who noted the color, not the action—the color, I say, but not the nuance.”^[15] Despite Monet’s flickering, impasted brushwork and bold application of color in the Water Lily Pond series, they indeed lack the ephemeral atmospheric effects—the enveloppe—that Monet foregrounded in the Mornings on the Seine paintings, especially the Art Institute’s Branch of the Seine near Giverny (Mist) (cat. 36 [W1475]). Exemplifying Monet’s ability to redirect his aesthetic concerns for each motif, his Water Lily Pond is more legible and independent; the viewer is not required to view it alongside others in the series in order to understand it.^[16]6

Close comparison of Water Lily Pond and Branch of the Seine near Giverny (Mist) reveals apparent differences, but they also share aspects common to Monet’s practice. Both works foreground a concern that vexed Monet throughout his career and dominated his choice of subject matter in the twentieth century—the representation of water: its reflective properties as well as that ever-complex moment when it converges with land or sky at the horizon. Analysis of the transmitted-light photography of Branch of the Seine near Giverny (Mist) and Water Lily Pond illuminates the differing approaches that Monet used to render this motif. In particular, it reveals that Monet painted areas of Water Lily Pond much more openly. Instead of applying paint relatively evenly across the surface to create reflections in the water, as he did in Branch of the Seine near Giverny (Mist) (fig. 37.11), Monet here leaves exposed areas of the ground and the thin washes that initially blocked in the composition (fig. 37.12). In this way he expresses water’s transparency by exploiting the reflection of light off the ground layer. Notably, however, Monet did make adjustments to the areas where water meets air in both paintings. As mentioned in regard to Branch of the Seine near Giverny (Mist), Monet seems to have reworked the horizon line, obscuring it with the patch of blue haze in the central area of the composition. Although there are few compositional changes in Water Lily Pond, X-ray imaging (fig. 37.13) reveals that Monet did paint out some of the foliage (actual or reflected) in the area underneath the bridge, suggesting his continued struggle to convey the moment where reality ends and reflection begins.7

Top-left is deep navy and near-black with faint red-orange mottling, while the top-right holds a small, brighter orange patch within dark blue. Across the center, a broad dark-blue area shows scattered soft red-orange smudges and a few tiny light specks. The lower half remains very dark blue, with muted red-orange patches more concentrated toward the lower right and center, fading to near-black at the far corners. — Transmitted Light

Top left and along the left edge, a dense area of muted purples, blues, and greens forms a vertical mass that softens toward the center. The center and right side are open and light, filled with pale blue and pale pink with faint, cloud-like patches. Along the lower edge, slightly darker bluish‑lavender shapes appear, smaller and softer than the left mass. A single image with no clearly defined objects or figures, composed of gently shifting color areas. — Natural Light

Fig. 37.11

Transmitted-light and natural-light images of Monet’s Branch of the Seine near Giverny (Mist) (1897) showing the relatively continuous buildup of the paint layers. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.1156.

Dark maroon and black dominate, with a bright horizontal band of yellow‑orange running across the middle, brightest slightly right of center. From top to bottom: the upper area has uneven dark maroon streaks; the middle features layered horizontal lines with scattered yellow‑orange and red speckles; the lower section is densely mottled in dark maroon and black with small lighter spots. All edges fade to near‑black, framing the brighter central band. — Transmitted Light

At the top, dense green foliage frames an arched dark‑green bridge stretching left to right across the middle. Below the bridge, a pond fills the lower half with many light‑green lily pads and small pink and white flowers, showing reflections of the surrounding greenery. Thick grasses and bushes cluster along the left and right edges. Colors are mainly greens and browns with touches of pink, white, and blue. — Natural Light

Fig. 37.12

Transmitted-light and natural-light images of Monet’s Water Lily Pond (1900) showing the open brushwork that leaves exposed areas of the ground and the thin washes that initially blocked in the composition. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.441.

In shades of black, white, and gray, the top area shows dense foliage and an arched bridge spanning most of the width. From the middle down, a pond fills the view, its surface covered with many small, light oval shapes across darker water, with taller grasses clustering along the left and right edges. A thin bright vertical strip runs down the center, and white L-shaped brackets with screw-like ends appear at the four corners with small tick marks along the borders. — X-Ray

Top section shows dense trees and hanging foliage in dark and light greens with touches of yellow and brown. Across the middle, a curved dark teal footbridge stretches from left to right, bordered by thick bushes on both sides. The lower half is a pond covered with green lily pads and many small pink and white flowers, with reflections of the greenery and bridge on the water; the bridge spans most of the width while the lily pads appear smaller and more numerous toward the foreground. — Natural Light

Fig. 37.13

X-ray and natural-light details of Monet’s Water Lily Pond (1900) showing changes made to the composition. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.441.

Jill Shaw8

Technical Summary

Claude Monet’s Water Lily Pond was painted on a pre-primed, non-standard-size linen canvas. The ground is off-white and consists of a single layer. A warp-thread match was detected with seven other Monet paintings from the Art Institute’s collection, suggesting that the fabric for these paintings came from the same bolt of material: The Petite Creuse River (cat. 25 [W1231], inv. 1922.432), Stacks of Wheat (End of Summer) (cat. 27 [W1269], inv. 1985.1103), Stacks of Wheat (End of Day, Autumn) (cat. 28 [W1270], inv. 1933.444), Stacks of Wheat (Sunset, Snow Effect) (cat. 29 [W1278], inv. 1922.431), Stack of Wheat (Thaw, Sunset) (cat. 32 [W1284], inv. 1983.166), Sandvika, Norway (cat. 34 [W1397], inv. 1961.790), and Branch of the Seine near Giverny (Mist) (cat. 36 [W1475], inv. 1933.1156). ^[17] The artist used deep tones of red, brown, and green, applied in thin washes, to map out the composition and provide the general tone for the work. The ground layer was left exposed in lighter areas of the composition, such as the far end of the pond and openings in the dense background foliage. Both the ground layer and the initial washes remain exposed throughout the composition, and some light abrasion of these layers seems to have occurred before the painting was further built up and may be the result of deliberate scraping or wiping of these layers by the artist. The foliage and flowers were built up using an open network of thick brushstrokes and impasto in brighter tones of green, yellow, pink, and purple. The work incorporates both wet-in-wet and wet-over-dry paint applications, the latter indicating that the painting was carried out in more than one session, allowing sufficient time for some of the earlier layers to have dried.^[18]9

Multilayer Interactive Image Viewer

The multilayer interactive image viewer is designed to facilitate the viewer’s exploration and comparison of the technical images (fig. 37.14).^[19]10

At the top, dense green and yellow foliage surrounds a dark teal bridge that arches across the center from left to right. Below it, a broad pond is covered with green and blue lily pads dotted with small pink and white flowers, with vertical reflections of the plants and bridge on the water. In the foreground, thicker plants cluster along the left and right edges, while the pond’s surface shows blue-green and purple patches; the bridge spans most of the width, and the lily pads are small in comparison to the large blocks of foliage. — Natural Light

At the top, an arched bridge runs left to right with dark, bushy vegetation behind it. Below, a pond covers most of the image, filled with many small, light gray lily pads separated by darker gray water. A bright vertical bar splits the scene at the center, and white corner brackets with measurement marks appear along the edges. — X-Ray

Upper section shows an arched footbridge running left to right, surrounded by dense vegetation, all in shades of gray. Beneath the bridge, tall grasses and hanging leaves border a still body of water. The lower half is a pond surface filled with many small, light-gray lily pads, with faint vertical reflections extending downward toward the foreground. — Infrared Reflectogram (1.0–1.1 µm)

Across the upper half, a dark green arched footbridge stretches left to right in front of dense trees and hanging foliage in deep greens and browns. Below the bridge, the middle area shows a pond covered with green lily pads and clusters of small pink flowers, with a narrow band of reddish water and vertical green reflections near the center. The lower section is darker water with scattered blue‑green and gray pads, reflecting parts of the plants and bridge above, while bushy plants crowd the left and right edges. The bridge is the largest element, spanning most of the width; the lily pads are small and numerous across the lower half. — Raking Light

Dark gray and black tones fill a rectangular scene, with the edges darker than the center. From top to bottom, faint wide curved bands run across the upper half, and the middle to lower areas show many small, irregular dark patches and streaks on a lighter gray ground. No clearly defined objects or people are visible. — Transmitted Infrared (1.0–1.1 µm)

From top to bottom, dark maroon and black dominate, with irregular streaks and patches across the surface. A wide horizontal band of warm colors—gold, orange, and yellow—runs through the upper-middle and center, broken by darker lines, with brighter clusters toward the right side. The lower third is mostly deep maroon and black with dense, small speckles, and the outer edges fade to near-black, forming a darker border around the center. Single composition; no additional images or panels. — Transmitted Light

Fig. 37.14

Monet’s Water Lily Pond (1900). The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.441. Interactive Image.

Signature

Signed and dated: Claude Monet 1900 (upper left, in dark-red paint^[20]) (fig. 37.15). The underlying paint was mostly dry when the signature and date were applied, except for the bright-red strokes underneath the M, which were picked up by the signature (fig. 37.16).11

Top edge shows a thin light beige band. Below it, a dark gray-brown surface has vertical streaks of red and small patches of teal. Across the upper half from left to right, maroon cursive writing is visible, with the digits “1910” appearing near the left-center beneath the writing. — Fig. 37.15

Detail of Monet’s *Water Lily Pond* (1900) showing the signature. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.441.

Top left and bottom left areas show orange-red color with dense tiny dark specks. From center to right, the surface shifts to darker red and maroon with several diagonal pale streaks and scattered small pits. A scale bar at the bottom left reads 2.0 mm. — Monet 33.441 Mic 5

Most of the frame is solid black, with a smaller vertical rectangle in the lower-right. Inside that rectangle, the upper area is mostly dark gray and brown with vertical streaks and touches of red and green. The lower area contains dense green foliage in light and dark greens with a few white highlights. At mid-right, a blue and dark rectangular railing or bridge-like structure runs horizontally behind the plants. — Detail Location

Fig. 37.16

Photomicrograph of the signature of Monet’s Water Lily Pond (1900) showing some wet-in-wet paint application. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.441.

Structure and Technique

Support

Canvas
Flax (commonly known as linen).^[21]12

Standard format
A report in the conservation file lists the previous stretcher dimensions as 89 × 100 cm.^[22] This does not correspond to a standard size, but both dimensions correspond to standard stretcher-bar sizes.^[23] The stretcher was probably custom ordered.13

Weave
Plain weave. Average thread count (standard deviation): 22.3V (0.7) × 23.3H (0.6) threads/cm; the horizontal threads were determined to correspond to the warp and the vertical threads to the weft.^[24] A warp-thread match was determined with seven other Monet paintings from the Art Institute: The Petite Creuse River (cat. 25 [W1231], inv. 1922.432), Stacks of Wheat (End of Summer) (cat. 27 [W1269], inv. 1985.1103), Stacks of Wheat (End of Day, Autumn) (cat. 28 [W1270], inv. 1933.444), Stacks of Wheat (Sunset, Snow Effect) (cat. 29 [W1278], inv. 1922.431), Stack of Wheat (Thaw, Sunset) (cat. 32 [W1284], inv. 1983.166), Sandvika, Norway (cat. 34 [W1397], inv. 1961.790), and Branch of the Seine near Giverny (Mist) (cat. 36 [W1475], inv. 1933.1156).^[25]14

Canvas characteristics
There is relatively even, mild-to-moderate cusping around all four edges. The cusping appears to be slightly more pronounced along the top edge. The cusping appears to correspond to the placement of the original tack holes.15

Stretching
Current stretching: Dates to the 1974 lining (see Conservation History). Copper tacks spaced 5.5–9 cm apart. The current stretcher is slightly larger than the original foldover dimensions, resulting in a narrow band of exposed ground from the tacking margins around the edges of the composition. It appears that the lined canvas was slightly off square when it was restretched.16

Original stretching: Tack holes spaced approximately 5–7 cm apart. There are a few additional holes on the top and bottom edges. These probably relate to tacks added later to reinforce the edges.17

Stretcher/strainer
Current stretcher: Four-membered ICA spring stretcher with vertical metal crossbar. Depth: 2.7 cm.18

Original stretcher: Discarded. The previous stretcher was probably the original stretcher. A photograph of the stretcher and an examination report in the conservation file record that the previous stretcher was a Buck type 2, consisting of six members, including a horizontal and a vertical crossbar, with mortise and tenon joints, and twelve keys. The report gives the following dimensions: height, 100 cm; width, 89 cm; outside depth, 2 cm; inside depth, 3 cm; stretcher-bar width, 7 cm; distance from canvas position, 0.5 cm; length of mortise, 7 cm (fig. 37.17).^[26]19

Top edge shows a wide rectangular frame in shades of gray, enclosing a flat surface. Two broad bars run vertically and two run horizontally, forming a cross across the center; small blocks sit in the four corners. Near the middle of the central vertical bar are two small rectangular labels with faint handwriting, and another label appears lower on the same bar. Bottom and side edges show worn borders and small shims, with the large square support filling the view. — Fig. 37.17

Black-and-white photograph (1974) of the back of Monet’s *Water Lily Pond* (1900) showing the previous stretcher. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.441.

Manufacturer’s/supplier’s marks
None observed in current examination or documented in previous examinations.20

Preparatory Layers

Sizing
In UV light, evidence of a light-blue fluorescence below the ground layer suggests the presence of an organic layer, possibly glue sizing (fig. 37.18).^[27]21

Against a solid blue background, a small translucent off-white shape stretches horizontally across the center. From left to right, it narrows to a pointed tip, thickens through a slightly uneven middle with faint darker patches, and finishes in a broader rounded end; a couple of faint, short projections appear along the lower edge near the center. A white scale bar labeled 50 μm sits just below the left half, indicating the tiny scale. — Monet 33.441 x1416_20x_UV

Top area shows dense green trees and hanging willow-like branches. Across the middle, a dark green arched footbridge spans left to right, bordered by tall bushes and grasses on both sides. The bottom half is a pond covered with green lily pads and scattered pink flowers on blue-green water, with reflections of the bridge and plants; the bridge occupies most of the middle width while the lily pads blanket nearly the entire lower section. — Sample Location

Fig. 37.18

Photomicrograph in UV-light of a cross section of the ground layer of Monet’s Water Lily Pond (1900) showing a light-blue fluorescing layer underneath the ground. Original magnification: 200×. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.441.

Ground application/texture
The ground layer extends to the edges of all four tacking margins, indicating that the canvas was cut from a larger piece of primed fabric, which was probably commercially prepared. Some fine, parallel ridges were observed in broad areas across the midleft side of the painting and in the upper left corner. The ridges appear to be either part of the ground layer or are directly on top of it. They are visible in the X-ray (fig. 37.19) and on the surface of the painting (fig. 37.20). In some areas, the overlying paint has been lightly abraded at the peaks, exposing the white tops of the ridges (fig. 37.21). The cause of these ridges is unclear. Cross-sectional analysis indicates that the ground consists of a single layer that ranges from approximately 10 to 80 µm in thickness (fig. 37.22).22

Top section shows a dark, slightly arched footbridge stretching from left to right, with dense foliage on both sides. Middle and lower areas show a wide pond covered with many small, light-gray lily pads, separated by darker water. A thin vertical white bar runs down the center, and white L-shaped brackets with measurement marks appear near all four corners and along the edges. Everything is rendered in black, white, and gray. — X-Ray

Top area shows dense green foliage with touches of yellow, including long drooping leaves. Across the center, a dark green-blue arched footbridge spans left to right, partly backed by tall plants; bushes and grasses frame both sides. The lower half is a pond covered with many green and blue lily pads and scattered small pink and white flowers, with reflections of the plants and bridge visible on the water. — Natural Light

Fig. 37.19

X-ray and natural-light details of Monet’s Water Lily Pond (1900) showing series of parallel ridges possibly associated with the ground layer. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.441. Interactive image.

From top to bottom, a dark gray band with maroon and green smears runs along the upper edge, dotted with small white specks. Below it, the central area is mostly very dark gray-brown with vertical streaks of bright lime green, deep green, and red. On the left, maroon and dark green mix with a small patch of purple, while the lower left shows teal-green patches. Near the bottom right, a narrow red area appears beside a small pale spot. — Fig. 37.20

Detail of the foliage in Monet’s *Water Lily Pond* (1900) showing ridges possibly associated with the ground layer. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.441.

Top section is a dark mix of brown and gray with faint reddish patches. From left to right, the surface varies from deep maroon to gray-brown; near the lower left are a few short white streaks with a small red spot. Along the far right edge runs a narrow vertical stripe of bright green. No recognizable figures or objects are present. — Fig. 37.21

Detail of the upper left corner of Monet’s *Water Lily Pond* (1900) showing diagonal ridges possibly associated with the ground layer. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.441.

Top to bottom: a smooth gray horizontal band spans the top. Just below it, a thin, uneven white line runs left to right in a repeating wave pattern. Beneath this line, rounded ridges of medium to dark brown form a continuous wavy band that blends into a darker brown layer at the bottom. A scale bar labeled 0.2 mm appears at the lower right. — Monet 33.441 x1418_5x_dkfld

Top area shows dense green foliage with long hanging leaves and touches of brown. Across the upper middle, a dark green arched footbridge spans left to right, bordered by thick shrubs and grasses. In the foreground, a wide pond is covered with many round green and blue lily pads dotted with small pink flowers, with reflections of the bridge and plants visible on the still water. — Sample Location

Fig. 37.22

Photomicrograph of a cross section of the ground and canvas layers of Monet’s Water Lily Pond (1900). Original magnification: 50×. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.441.

Color
The ground is off-white, with some dark (possibly red and black) particles visible under magnification (fig. 37.23). There are some relatively large, white clumps present (fig. 37.24).23

Top to bottom, a pale beige surface fills the frame, covered with evenly spaced, shallow oval depressions arranged in horizontal rows. Inside most depressions are short, dark brown streaks, and thin hairline cracks run between some of the pits. At the bottom right, a black scale bar labeled 1.0 mm provides size reference, showing each depression is very small compared with 1 mm. — Monet 33.441 MIC 2

Top section has dense dark green patches with streaks of red-brown and hints of purple. Middle to lower areas show blue-green water covered with many oval lily pads in shades of green and teal, dotted with small pink and light purple flowers. The left side includes a thicker band of green shapes leaning downward, while the bottom right has brighter turquoise areas with more pads and a few flowers. Lily pads appear medium-sized relative to the small flowers scattered between them. — Detail Location

Fig. 37.23

Photomicrograph of the left edge of Monet’s Water Lily Pond (1900) showing the ground layer. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.441.

Top to bottom, a pale beige surface fills the frame, dotted with irregular brown flakes and tiny white bumps, with occasional specks of blue, green, and purple. Along the bottom edge, several rounded, shiny red blobs pool and press upward into the beige area. Fine, hair-like strands are sporadically visible across the center and right. A scale bar at the bottom center reads 1.0 mm. — Monet 33.441 MIC 16

At the top, a dense band of green foliage lines a far bank. Across the middle, a wide water surface is filled with green lily pads and clusters of pink and white water lilies arranged in loose horizontal bands. Near the bottom, darker water shows green, blue, and purple reflections with fewer pads. Elements vary in scale, with the foliage forming the largest area and the blossoms appearing as many small spots. — Detail location

Fig. 37.24

Detail of the pond in Monet’s Water Lily Pond (1900) showing exposed ground. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.441.

Materials/composition
Analysis indicates that the ground contains lead white and calcium carbonate (chalk)^[28] with traces of alumina, silica, and various silicates.^[29] Binder: Oil (estimated).24

Compositional Planning/Underdrawing/Painted Sketch

Extent/character
No underdrawing was detected with infrared reflectography; however, a few black, splintery particles were observed microscopically at the back left edge of the pond (fig. 37.25). Some particles are directly on top of the ground layer, while others are incorporated into the greenish-yellow paint layer. The particles are visually similar to those associated with charcoal underdrawing on other Monet paintings in the Art Institute collection. In those cases, the charcoal particles had also sometimes been picked up by the paint layers.^[30] In this painting, however, there is insufficient evidence to say whether the artist may have used some preliminary drawing in the work.25

Top right shows a thin black scale bar labeled 1.0 mm. The upper half has cream to pale yellow ridges running top-to-bottom with faint greenish-blue streaks, tiny dark blue speckles, and a few small red-brown flecks. The lower half is a rough, gray-white area with bumpy texture, small pits, and scattered blue speckles and reddish-brown fragments. — Monet 33.441 MIC 22

Top area shows dense dark green foliage with a darker band running across near the upper center. Across the middle from left to right, a water surface is covered with many small green lily pads and scattered pink and white flowers, with a thick bushy cluster of leaves at the left edge. Along the far side, tall vertical plants in bright greens and reddish-browns form a backdrop, and the lower edge shows the water reflecting green and red-brown tones. — Detail Location

Fig. 37.25

Detail of the pond in Monet’s Water Lily Pond (1900) showing black particles underneath and incorporated into the paint layer. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.441.

Medium/technique
The material was not sampled.26

Paint Layer

Application/technique and artist’s revisions
The composition was broadly mapped out using thin washes of paint in dark tones of brown, reddish brown, and green. In these thinly applied passages, the canvas texture remains prominent and the paint surface is often abraded, exposing the peaks of the canvas weave. It appears the artist scraped or wiped these initial paint layers before building up the composition (fig. 37.26, fig. 37.27).^[31] The lay-in provides the general tone for the shadowed areas of the composition, including the dark areas of dense foliage behind the bridge (fig. 37.28). Where the effects of the sunlight were depicted, in the foreground water for example, the initial washes of reddish brown and dark green were left open, leaving the ground layer exposed in those areas where the water lilies would be painted (fig. 37.29). Similarly, the sunlit area of the pond on the far side of the bridge, as well as the light areas at the upper left and upper right corners, were left in reserve at the lay-in stage, with unpainted ground providing much of the light tone in those parts (fig. 37.30, fig. 37.31).^[32] In areas of the distant sunlit water, the artist appears to have applied a very thin, translucent paint layer directly over the ground, which imparts a subtle, greenish-yellow tone in places (fig. 37.32, fig. 37.33). It seems that the general form of the bridge was indicated at the lay-in stage using strokes of thin purple and reddish-brown paint (fig. 37.34). The posts and railings were then painted on top of the broad underpainting, with the foliage built up in the negative space in between the supports (fig. 37.35). The bright green and yellow branches that hang down from the top edge of the composition appear to have been planned from early on, since more of the ground layer remains visible through breaks in the brushwork in that area (fig. 37.36). Monet then worked back and forth between the bridge and the foliage behind and in front of it (fig. 37.37).27

Top edge shows two short bands of light turquoise over a dark maroon-brown background. Center-right holds a loose cluster of small marks in green, yellow, purple, and white, with thin lines and tiny dots. Left and lower areas contain scattered dark green and red patches, with a few bright green spots near the lower center and small teal smudges near both bottom corners. — Fig. 37.26

Detail of the pond in Monet’s *Water Lily Pond* (1900) showing a thin reddish-brown underlayer with exposed ground at the peaks of the canvas. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.441.

Top to bottom, a dark brown surface shifts to reddish-brown along the right side and is dotted with many tiny light gray specks. Fine, wavy dark lines run vertically through the center, and the lower right shows a curved, glossy white highlight. At the bottom left, a scale bar labeled 5.0 mm provides size reference; most specks appear much smaller than 1 mm across. — Monet 33.441 MIC 8

Large black background fills most of the frame, with a smaller rectangular scene positioned in the bottom right. In that scene, the upper half is dark gray and brown with vertical streaks of red and green; near the upper center-right is a small white square mark. The lower half shows dense green foliage in varied shades with yellow-green highlights, and a blue-green horizontal band sits at the right center behind the plants. — Detail Location

Fig. 37.27

Detail of the foliage in Monet’s Water Lily Pond (1900) showing possible scraping into the thin brown underlayer. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.441.

Figs. 37.28–37.32

Top area shows a dark brown and green field, with the right side marked by tall, thin vertical streaks in bright yellow‑green and small patches of red. Across the middle run two thick, slightly curved horizontal bands of dark teal edged with light blue and white. Lower area is darker, with shorter, blurred vertical shapes in yellow‑green and red that align beneath the bright streaks above, resembling their reflections. — Fig. 37.28

Detail of the foliage in Monet’s *Water Lily Pond* (1900) showing a thin brown underlayer exposed between the thicker brushstrokes. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.441.

Top area has dense areas of blue, teal, and green with small spots of purple and pink. In the middle, scattered oval patches of light green and aqua cluster toward the right, with a few small red and white accents. The bottom section is dark brown with wider aqua and turquoise ovals and soft green patches near the center-left; the patches at the bottom are larger than those higher up. — Fig. 37.29

Detail of the pond in Monet’s *Water Lily Pond* (1900) showing exposed ground in the areas where the water lilies were painted. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.441.

At the top, dense foliage in light green and yellow with small touches of pink forms a leafy canopy. Across the middle, darker green and brown areas create a shadowed thicket with scattered brighter green strokes. Along the bottom, a blue‑green horizontal rail or fence spans the width from left to right with a vertical post near the center, set against the same dark vegetation. — Fig. 37.30

Detail of the upper right corner of *Water Lily Pond* (1900) showing areas of exposed ground. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.441.

Top area shows a dark green and brown bank with tall vertical streaks of bright green foliage. Across the center from left to right, a pond surface is covered with many small, round green leaves and scattered pink and white flowers. Foliage on the left edge is denser and darker than in the center and right. Along the bottom, a horizontal band of water shows green and reddish reflections. — Fig. 37.31

Detail of the pond in Monet’s *Water Lily Pond* (1900) showing areas of exposed ground. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.441.

Top area shows a mottled mix of pale green and gray with scattered small streaks of white and pink, plus bits of dark green. The middle section has broader horizontal areas of green with clusters of pink and red patches and small oval white spots. The bottom section shifts to muted green and gray with a wide reddish-brown band near the base and scattered yellow‑green and white patches. — Fig. 37.32

Detail of the pond in Monet’s *Water Lily Pond* (1900) showing a very thin greenish-yellow layer applied over the ground. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.441.

Close-up view of a rough, cracked surface fills the frame, colored pale tan with yellow‑green and gray areas. Small brown, elongated patches sit in shallow pits across the center and left, with fine green specks scattered between them. Thin, irregular fissures run diagonally from upper left to lower right. A scale bar in the lower right reads 1.0 mm, indicating the details are smaller than a millimeter. — Monet 33.441 MIC 18

Top section shows a dense band of dark and bright green foliage. Across the middle, horizontal bands of water in green, white, and gray are dotted with many small pink and white flowers spread left to right. The lower section features wider bands of reddish-brown, green, and blue water with scattered flecks of color; the flowers appear smaller here. Along the right edge, a narrow beige strip with a small black bracket shape interrupts the scene. — Detail Location

Fig. 37.33

Photomicrograph of the pond in Monet’s Water Lily Pond (1900) showing a very thin, greenish-yellow layer applied over the ground. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.441.

Figs. 37.34–37.37

Top area shows dark maroon and green with teal streaks and a few small white touches. On the left, dense patches of varied greens with yellow‑green highlights lead into the center, which has layered horizontal bands in teal, maroon, and gray. On the right, vertical strips of bright yellow‑green mix with dark red and green, and the lower right includes small pale pink spots. The bottom area is a blend of deep green and maroon with scattered lighter green marks. — Fig. 37.34

Detail of the bridge in Monet’s *Water Lily Pond* (1900) showing the buildup of the paint layers. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.441.

Top area shows a dark mix of brown and green with scattered lighter streaks. Across the center, several horizontal blue‑green bands run left to right, intersected by a few vertical lines that form rectangular sections. The bottom portion has denser patches of bright green and yellow with hints of white against darker green and maroon. No figures or text are present. — Fig. 37.35

Detail of the bridge in Monet’s *Water Lily Pond* (1900) showing the buildup of the paint layers. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.441.

Top area shows a dark brown field crossed left to right by several bluish-gray horizontal bands, with bright yellow‑green and red vertical streaks between them. The middle section continues these horizontal bands with more clustered lime‑green and dark red marks against a brown‑green background. The bottom section has similar vertical streaks and patches, with darker greens and maroons and the horizontal bands appearing fainter. — Fig. 37.36

Detail of the bridge in Monet’s *Water Lily Pond* (1900) showing exposed ground underneath the foliage. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.441.

Top area is a dark gray-brown background with scattered red smudges. From the lower left, clusters of curving green, yellow, and white lines and patches run diagonally toward the center. The right side shows broad horizontal streaks in teal, blue, and maroon over the dark background. No people or recognizable objects are present. — Fig. 37.37

Detail of the bridge in Monet’s *Water Lily Pond* (1900) showing the buildup of the paint layers. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.441.

In painting the foliage and the water lilies, Monet employed more varied brushwork, using individual strokes of paint that are both more colorful and more highly textured than the underlying layers. This buildup of paint is mostly applied in an open network such that areas of exposed ground and thin underpainting are juxtaposed against solid, opaque brushstrokes and dashes of impasto (fig. 37.38, fig. 37.39, fig. 37.40, fig. 37.41). The openness of the brushwork is emphasized when the painting is viewed in transmitted light: the initial thin layers of paint appear relatively transparent while the thicker strokes block the light and appear dark (fig. 37.42). The painting was carried out in several sessions. The initial thin layers of paint appear to have been dry for the most part when the landscape was worked up with the more textural strokes. The upper brushwork includes both wet-on-wet (fig. 37.43) and wet-over-dry (fig. 37.44) paint applications. The water lilies in the foreground and at the far end of the pond were blocked in using thick, lead white–rich strokes applied over the thin underpainting layers; more colorful strokes were added on top when the thick white paint had already set (fig. 37.45, fig. 37.46). The artist often picked up multiple colors on his brush (fig. 37.47), depositing them on the canvas in strokes of unmixed colors. The more textural brushstrokes are often very free and gestural (fig. 37.48, fig. 37.49). For the long grasses at the left edge of the composition, Monet dragged stiff white and pale-yellowish-green paint lightly across the surface in flickering strokes that skip over the surface in places (fig. 37.50). Throughout the painting, he applied strokes of relatively flat, unmodulated color—often deep greens and reds—that cross over and conform to the dried impasto strokes underneath and serve to break up the surface (fig. 37.51).28

Figs. 37.38–37.40

Top section shows dark green water with patches of red and yellow and a few small water‑lily flowers in pale pink and white. In the middle, dense clusters of green and teal lily pads cover most of the area, dotted with blossoms in light pink, lavender, and white. Near the bottom, larger aqua and teal pads sit closer together, with several prominent pink‑white flowers; overall colors include green, teal, aqua, red, yellow, purple, and white. — Fig. 37.38

Detail of the water lilies in Monet’s *Water Lily Pond* (1900) showing the texture of the paint applications. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.441.

Top area shows dense foliage in greens and browns, with bright patches of light green, yellow, and small pink accents. Across the lower third, a curved blue‑green bridge railing runs left to right, with a vertical support near the center. Beneath the railing is a darker band of mixed greens and browns with teal lines. — Fig. 37.39

Detail of the upper right corner of Monet’s *Water Lily Pond* (1900) showing the texture of the paint applications. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.441.

Top third has wide bands of teal and turquoise, with small patches of white and light pink. The center shows a broad dark green and reddish-brown band, with scattered purple and red touches and a medium lavender patch slightly left of center. Lower third is mostly teal and green, with two medium rounded clusters mixing white, pink, and lavender—one near the center with a small yellow spot and one toward the lower left—plus thin red streaks near the bottom edge and a tiny yellow‑green dab at the right edge. — Fig. 37.40

Detail of the water lilies in Monet’s *Water Lily Pond* (1900) showing the texture of the paint applications. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.441.

Top area shows a dark brown and black speckled surface with scattered small mustard-yellow spots stretching left to right. Across the middle, a thick raised streak of yellow-green runs diagonally from left to right, tapering into thin drips toward the lower right. Bottom area continues the dark speckled surface with some darker green patches, and a white “5.0 mm” scale bar sits at the lower left. — Monet 33.441 MIC 7

Fig. 37.41

Photomicrograph of the foliage in Monet’s Water Lily Pond (1900) showing the texture of the paint applications. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.441.

Top third shows dense, irregular patches of dark maroon and black. Across the middle, a wide horizontal band of orange and yellow streaks runs left to right, with scattered darker marks; the right-center has a brighter orange area. Left side has clustered dark vertical and diagonal streaks, while the lower third is mostly deep maroon and black with speckled, uneven marks. Colors are predominantly black and maroon, with central highlights of yellow and orange. — Transmitted Light

Top section shows dense green foliage with some yellow‑green highlights. Across the upper middle, a narrow arched footbridge in dark teal spans from left to right. Below, a pond fills most of the scene with blue‑green lily pads and small pink and white flowers, reflecting the surrounding plants and bridge; taller greenery lines both banks, especially along the left and right edges. — Natural Light

Fig. 37.42

Transmitted-light and natural-light images of Monet’s Water Lily Pond (1900) showing the open brushwork. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.441.

Top section shows dark green and dark purple areas with scattered teal highlights. Across the center, broad diagonal patches of green and dark red intersect, with small curved streaks of cream and yellow near the center-left and lower-right. Bottom section has dense red and green patches with many tiny white specks; a scale mark labeled 5.0 mm sits in the lower-left corner, and most colored ridges and patches span a few millimeters relative to that scale. — Monet 33.441 MIC 9

Top area has dense vertical green and reddish plants along a bank. Middle area shows a pond covered with many green lily pads and small pink and white water-lily flowers; near the upper left, a small white rectangular outline overlays dark green foliage. Bottom area shows a horizontal band of water with green, pink, yellow, and brown reflections, and wide black margins surround the scene on the right and lower sides. — Detail Location

Fig. 37.43

Photomicrograph of the foliage in Monet’s Water Lily Pond (1900) showing wet-on-wet paint application. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.441.

Top area shows pale yellow with a raised, pebbly texture, with a light pink band near the upper center and jagged red patches beside it. Toward the upper right, white and off-white areas are bumpy, with small red spots. The lower half transitions to teal-green covered by many small, evenly spaced dots, with a dark teal patch at the bottom left and maroon patches near the bottom right. A black scale bar labeled 5.0 mm sits at the bottom right. — Monet 33.441 MIC 21

Top portion is solid black. Bottom section shows a wide green pond filled with many small round lily pads and clusters of pink and white flowers, with dense leafy plants at the left and tall vertical greenery across the upper background; a dark green horizontal band runs near the top of this lower area. Colors are mostly greens with touches of pink, white, and reddish-brown, and the water at the very bottom shows green and pink reflections. A small black square outline appears near the lower left, positioned over a cluster of lily pads and flowers. — Detail Location

Fig. 37.44

Photomicrograph of the water lilies in Monet’s Water Lily Pond (1900) showing wet-over-dry paint application. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.441.

Top section shows broad areas of teal and dark red with a few green streaks. Near the center, a small cluster of white and light purple petal-like shapes surrounds a yellow spot, much smaller than the surrounding teal areas. Bottom section shifts to teal and aqua with scattered red patches, ending in a thin beige strip along the lower edge. — Fig. 37.45

Detail of a water lily in Monet’s *Water Lily Pond* (1900) showing the buildup of the paint layers. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.441.

Top area shows mottled bands of pale green and gray with scattered small patches of pink, off-white, and light yellow. In the middle, clusters of pink, red, off-white, and teal patches appear over a gray-green ground, ranging from tiny specks to larger, irregular raised swirls. Toward the bottom, broader horizontal streaks of white and light green layer over coral, red, brown, and lime green areas, with a few bright green spots near the lower edge. — Fig. 37.46

Detail of water lilies in Monet’s *Water Lily Pond* (1900) showing the buildup of the paint layers. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.441.

Top area shows dark purple and maroon with many small rounded bumps; at the upper right is a thin white scale bar labeled “2.0 mm.” Across the middle from left to right runs a thin, wavy stripe in layers of red, pink, and violet, bordered by lighter purple. Bottom area is mottled green, gray, and tan with dense small circular pits, transitioning to darker purples toward the right edge. — Monet 33.441 MIC 14

Top edge shows a dense band of dark and bright green foliage. From the middle to the bottom, a wide water surface spans left to right, covered with many small, flat green leaves and scattered pink and white blossoms, with horizontal streaks of green, purple, and blue reflections. Near the center-right, slightly above the midpoint, a small white rectangular outline frames a patch of the water. — Detail Location

Fig. 37.47

Photomicrograph of the pond in Monet’s Water Lily Pond (1900) showing unmixed colors applied in a single brushstroke. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.441.

Top area features a narrow, uneven strip of light turquoise over a dark reddish-brown field. Across the center, scattered patches of dark green and red appear with small squiggles and dabs in light purple, blue, white, and bright yellow‑green; one pale curved line sits near left-center and another near right-center. The bottom area continues the dark reddish-brown with faint green swirls and a few small turquoise spots near the corners. — Fig. 37.48

Detail of the pond in Monet’s *Water Lily Pond* (1900) showing gestural brushstrokes. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.441.

Top area shows a dark reddish-brown surface dotted with many small white specks, with irregular green patches and a small yellow patch at the upper right. Across the middle, a thin curved white strand with visible pink and yellow along its edges runs left to right, thicker at the left end and tapering to a hooked tip on the right. Bottom area continues the reddish-brown field with more green patches, and a white scale bar labeled 5.0 mm appears at the lower right for size reference. — Monet 33.441 MIC 11

A pond scene sits in the lower-left of a large black background, with water shown in greens, blues, and teal and scattered lily pads. From top to bottom: the upper area is dense with green-blue patches; the middle shows mixed turquoise, green, and pink areas with a small white shape near the center; the right middle has bright yellow-green lily pads. The lower area shifts to darker brown with teal patches, and a thin white rectangle outlines a small spot near the lower-left edge of the pond scene. — Detail Location

Fig. 37.49

Photomicrograph of a brushstroke from the pond in Monet’s Water Lily Pond (1900). The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.441.

From top left to lower center, dense green foliage fills the space, with leaf-like shapes in bright yellow-green, medium green, and dark green, accented by small pale highlights. The left two-thirds are packed with these overlapping forms, while the right third shows darker vertical and horizontal bands in blue, teal, purple, and reddish-brown, partially covered by the greenery. Background areas are mostly dark gray-brown with maroon patches, forming a dark backdrop behind the foliage. — Fig. 37.50

Detail of the grass in Monet’s *Water Lily Pond* (1900) showing thick strokes of yellow and white lightly dragged across the surface. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.441.

Top area contains dense patches of dark and bright green with some brown. Across the middle, horizontal bands of green and gray run left to right, dotted with many small white and light pink shapes. Bottom area has more concentrated clusters of pink, red, and white shapes against pale green. — Fig. 37.51

Detail of the pond in Monet’s *Water Lily Pond* (1900) showing some final touches of flat red paint. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.441.

Although there are no major changes in the composition, a few small areas were painted out as the work was built up. This can be seen in the water underneath the bridge. The X-ray shows that more distinct vertical and diagonal brushstrokes from the reflected foliage were originally included in this area. These strokes were subsequently covered by the flat, rose-colored paint (fig. 37.52).29

Across the top half, a dark gray arched footbridge spans nearly the full width, with dense clusters of light-to-medium gray foliage on both sides. The lower half shows a pond covered with many small, light gray lily pads floating on darker water, with clusters appearing thicker toward the bottom. A bright, thin vertical stripe runs down the center, and bright L‑shaped brackets and small tick marks line the corners and edges. — X-Ray

Top section shows dense trees and drooping leaves in shades of green with touches of yellow and brown. Across the upper middle, a dark green arched footbridge runs left to right. Below, a broad pond fills the lower half, its blue‑green water covered with many round green lily pads and scattered small pink and white blossoms, reflecting the plants and bridge. Thick bushes and grasses line both banks, especially clustered along the left and right edges. — Natural Light

Fig. 37.52

X-ray and natural-light details of Monet’s Water Lily Pond (1900) showing changes made to the composition. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.441.

Painting tools
Brushes, including 2–3 and 5 mm and 1.0 cm width, and possibly wider brushes used for broad underpainting; flat ferrule (based on width and shape of brushmarks).30

Palette
Analysis indicates the presence of the following pigments: lead white, cadmium yellow, chrome yellow, vermilion, red lake, viridian, cobalt blue, ultramarine blue, and cobalt violet. PLM analysis highlighted the presence of pale-red and deeper-red particles of red lake, suggesting that two different types may be present. Only one type was analyzed by SERS and identified as madder lake.^[33] A bright, orange-pink fluorescence under ultraviolet light indicates that the artist used red lake throughout the work.^[34]31

Binding Media
Oil (estimated).^[35]32

Surface Finish

Varnish layer/media
In 1997–98, the painting was cleaned and left unvarnished (see Conservation History). It has a relatively matte surface with subtle variations in surface sheen depending on the qualities of the paint application.33

Conservation History

There is no early treatment report in the conservation file, but pretreatment photographs from 1974, showing the painting on its original stretcher and apparently unlined, were probably taken just before the painting was treated. The treatment probably included the wax-resin lining, restretching on the current ICA spring stretcher, and the application of a synthetic varnish. A natural-resin varnish may have been removed at this time as well, based on the presence of yellowed varnish residues in the recesses of the brushwork.34

In 1997–98, the synthetic varnish and old natural resin varnish residues were removed. The paint surface was aqueously cleaned, and glue residues embedded in the paint texture were removed.^[36]35

Condition Summary

The painting is in good condition. The canvas is wax-resin lined and stretched taut and in plane on an ICA spring stretcher. There is minor wear and abrasion on the tacking edges. There are several old splits in the canvas at the original foldovers, especially along the top and bottom edges. Areas of light abrasion in the ground and the earliest paint layers, which expose the peaks of the canvas weave in places occurred while Monet was still working on the painting, possibly as part of his working process. Cracking in the paint layer is minimal and where present it is very fine, visible mainly only under magnification. There are localized drying cracks, as well as pronounced microcracking specific to brushstrokes containing yellow paint. One small area of old flake losses was observed in one of these yellow areas. There are some starch-paste residues from the previous lining treatment in the recesses of the more textured paint. The painting is currently unvarnished.36

Kimberley Muir37

Frame

The current frame appears to be original to the painting. It is a French (Parisian), early-twentieth-century, Durand-Ruel, Régence Revival, ogee frame with cast foliate and center cartouches on a quadrillage bed with leaf-tip-and-shell sight molding and a nonoriginal, painted, fillet liner. The frame has both water and oil gilding. Red bole was used on the perimeter molding, the cast foliate on the ogee and sight molding, the scotia sides, and the liner. Red-orange bole was used on the sanded frieze and bordering fillets. The ornament and sight molding are selectively burnished. The frame has an overall gold-bronze tone, with casein or gouache raw umber and gray washes and dark flecking. The frame has a glued poplar substrate with a cast plaster face. At a later date the original back of the frame was planed flat, removing all construction history and provenance. A back frame was then glued to the back. The molding, from perimeter to interior, is fillet with cast, stylized, running undulating bands with rhomboid center punches; scotia side; ogee face with a cast quadrillage bed and center and corner foliate and floral cartouches with cabochon centers on a double-lined diamond bed with punched centers; fillet; sanded front frieze; fillet; ogee with stylized leaf-tip-and-shell sight molding; and an independent fillet liner with cove sight (fig. 37.53).^[37]38

Top area shows dense green foliage in dark and light greens with hints of brown. Across the upper middle, an arched blue‑green footbridge spans left to right in front of drooping tree branches. The lower half features a pond covered with green lily pads and scattered pink and white blooms, with blue‑green water and reflections and clusters of tall grasses at the left and right edges. The scene is enclosed by a wide, ornate gold frame. — Fig. 37.53

Monet’s *Water Lily Pond* (1900) in its original frame. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.441.

Kirk Vuillemot39

Sold by the artist to Léonce Rosenberg, Paris, Dec. 1900.^[38]40

Acquired by the Prince de Wagram, 1904.^[39]41

Acquired by Léonce Rosenberg, Paris, by July 22, 1914.^[40]42

Sold by Léonce Rosenberg, Paris, to Durand-Ruel, Paris, July 22, 1914, for 21,000 francs.^[41]43

Sold by Durand-Ruel, Paris, to Durand-Ruel, New York, Dec. 3 or 30, 1914.^[42]44

Sold by Durand-Ruel, New York, to Arthur Meeker, Chicago, Apr. 8, 1915, for $7,400.^[43]45

Acquired by Mrs. Lewis Larned (Annie Swan) Coburn, Chicago, by 1933.46

Bequeathed by Mrs. Lewis Larned (Annie Swan) Coburn (died 1932), Chicago, to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.47

New York, Durand-Ruel Galleries, Paintings by Claude Monet, Feb. 1–16, 1915, cat. 8.^[44]48

Art Institute of Chicago, Exhibition of the Mrs. L. L. Coburn Collection: Modern Paintings and Watercolors, Apr. 6–Oct. 9, 1932, cat. 25.49

Dayton (Ohio) Art Museum, 19th Century French Paintings from the Collection of the Art Institute of Chicago (circuit exhibition organized by the American Federation of Arts), June 1–June 22, 1948, no cat.;^[45]; Springfield (Mo.) Art Museum, Sept. 9–30, 1948, no cat.^[46]; Probably Poughkeepsie, N.Y., Vassar College Art Gallery, Oct. 15–Nov. 5, 1948^[47]; Probably Manchester, N.H., Currier Gallery of Art, Nov. 16–Dec. 7, 1948^[48]; Saginaw (Mich.) Museum (as Exhibition of Nineteenth Century French Painting), Dec. 19, 1948–Jan. 9, 1949, cat. 19^[49]; Probably Omaha, Neb., Joslyn Memorial Art Museum, Jan. 23–Feb. 15, 1949^[50]; Probably Memphis, Tenn., Brooks Memorial Art Gallery, Mar. 1–22, 1949, no cat.^[51]; Utica, N.Y., Munson–Williams-Proctor Institute, Apr. 3–24, 1949, no cat.^[52] 50

Chicago, Remington Rand, window display, Apr. 14–30, 1952, no cat.^[53]51

Art Institute of Chicago, The Paintings of Claude Monet, Apr. 1–June 15, 1957, no cat. no.^[54]52

Art Institute of Chicago, Paintings by Monet, Mar. 15–May 11, 1975, cat. 101 (ill.). (fig. 37.54)53

A tan gallery wall displays three framed landscape paintings in a row. From left to right: a smaller square scene in soft pinks and purples of buildings reflected on water; a larger center piece in an ornate gold frame showing a green arched footbridge over a pond with lily pads, surrounded by trees in greens and browns; a square scene in light pinks, greens, and blues of a hillside town beside a river with reflections. Small black wall labels with the numbers 104, 101, and 103 sit beside each work, and a beige floor runs along the bottom. — Fig. 37.54

Installation of Monet’s *Water Lily Pond* (1900) in *Paintings by Monet*, Art Institute of Chicago, Mar. 15–May 11, 1975. Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago.

New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Monet’s Years at Giverny: Beyond Impressionism, Apr. 19–July 9, 1978, cat. 33 (ill.); Saint Louis Art Museum, Aug. 1–Oct. 8, 1978.54

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, A Day in the Country: Impressionism and the French Landscape, June 28–Sept. 16, 1984, cat. 93 (ill.); Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 23, 1984–Jan. 6, 1985; Paris, Galeries Nationales d’Exposition du Grand Palais, as L’impressionnisme et le paysage français, Feb. 4–Apr. 22, 1985.55

Auckland City Art Gallery, Claude Monet: Painter of Light, Apr. 29–June 9, 1985, cat. 27 (ill.); Sydney, Art Gallery of New South Wales, June 21–Aug. 4, 1985; Melbourne, National Gallery of Victoria, Aug. 14–Sept. 29, 1985.56

Madrid, Museo Español de Arte Contemporáneo, Claude Monet, 1840–1926, Apr. 29–June 30, 1986, cat. 94 (ill.).57

Basel, Kunstmuseum Basel, Claude Monet: Nymphéas, July 20–Oct. 19, 1986, cat. 10 (ill.).58

Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, Monet in the ’90s: The Series Paintings, Feb. 7–Apr. 29, 1990, cat. 91 (ill.); Art Institute of Chicago, May 19–Aug. 12, 1990; London, Royal Academy of Arts, Sept. 7–Dec. 9, 1990. (fig. 37.55)59

A light-gray gallery room with a light-brown herringbone wood floor and a skylight at the upper right. From left to right, four framed paintings hang on the long wall and a fifth hangs on the adjacent right wall near the corner, each with a small white label; a low metal rail runs along the baseboard. All five paintings show a small arched light bridge over a pond with green plants and lily pads, in greens, blues, and whites; the frames are mostly gold with one dark brown, the leftmost work is the largest, the third is slightly narrower and darker in color, and the fourth is the smallest. — Fig. 37.55

Installation of Monet’s *Water Lily Pond* (1900) in *Monet in the ’90s: The Series Paintings*, Art Institute of Chicago, May 19–Aug. 12, 1990. Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago.

Art Institute of Chicago, Claude Monet, 1840–1926, July 22–Nov. 26, 1995, cat. 114 (ill.). (fig. 37.56)60

Gallery room corner with five gold-framed paintings on dark brown walls. From left to right, two show green gardens with a pale arched bridge over water and water lilies; the center shows a garden with purple flowers; the next shows a rocky slope beside blue water; the far right shows a light-toned coastal scene with cliffs and sea. A low wooden bench sits in the right foreground on a glossy herringbone wood floor, and short stanchions with a thin rope line the walls. — Fig. 37.56

Installation of Monet’s *Water Lily Pond* (1900) in *Claude Monet, 1840–1926*, Art Institute of Chicago, July 22–Nov. 26, 1995. Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago.

Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, Monet in the 20th Century, Sept. 20–Dec. 27, 1998, cat. 1 (ill.); London, Royal Academy of Arts, Jan. 23–Apr. 18, 1999.61

Paris, Musée National de l’Orangerie, Monet: Le cycle des “Nymphéas,” May 6–Aug. 2, 1999, cat. 6 (ill.).62

Fort Worth, Tex., Kimbell Art Museum, The Impressionists: Master Paintings from the Art Institute of Chicago, June 29–Nov. 2, 2008, cat. 90 (ill.).63

Melbourne, National Gallery of Victoria, Monet’s Garden: The Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris, May 10–Sept. 8, 2013, no cat. no. (ill.).^[55]64

Lucien Descaves, “Chez Claude Monet,” Paris-Magazine, Aug. 25, 1920, p. 354 (ill.).^[56]65

Gustave Geffroy, “Claude Monet,” L’art et les artistes 2, 11 (Nov. 1920), p. 73 (ill.).66

Camille Mauclair, Claude Monet (Rieder, 1924), pp. 63; pl. 39. Republished in Camille Mauclair, Claude Monet, 2nd ed. (Rieder, 1927), p. 63; pl. 39. Translated by J. Lewis May as Claude Monet (Dodd, Mead, 1924), pp. 6; pl. 39.67

Florent Fels, Claude Monet: Trente reproductions de peintures et dessins précédées d’une étude critique, Les peintres français nouveaux 22 (Gallimard, 1925), p. 63 (ill.).68

“Les toiles de jeunesse de Claude Monet,” L’art vivant, Jan. 1, 1927, p. 22 (ill.)69

Léon Werth, Claude Monet (G. Crès, 1928), pl. 50.70

Art Institute of Chicago, Exhibition of the Mrs. L. L. Coburn Collection: Modern Paintings and Watercolors, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago, 1932), p. 20, cat. 25.71

Daniel Catton Rich, “The Mrs. L. L. Coburn Collection,” in Art Institute of Chicago, Exhibition of the Mrs. L. L. Coburn Collection: Modern Paintings and Watercolors, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago, 1932), p. 7.72

John Rewald, “Monet, Solid Builder of Impressions,” Art News 42, 10 (Oct. 1–14, 1943), p. 25 (ill.).73

Saginaw Museum, Exhibition of Nineteenth Century French Painting, exh. cat. (Saginaw Museum, 1949), p. 9, cat. 19.74

Art Institute of Chicago, “Catalogue,” Art Institute of Chicago Quarterly 51, 2 (Apr. 1, 1957), p. 33.75

Art Institute of Chicago, Paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago: A Catalogue of the Picture Collection (Art Institute of Chicago, 1961), p. 320.76

A. James Speyer, “Twentieth-Century European Paintings and Sculpture,” Apollo 84, 55 (Sept. 1966), p. 222.77

Frederick A. Sweet, “Great Chicago Collectors,” Apollo 84 (Sept. 1966), pp. 201, fig. 29; 203.78

Denis Rouart and Jean-Dominique Rey, Monet, nymphéas, ou Les miroirs du temps, with a cat. rais. by Robert Maillard (Hazan, 1972), p. 155 (ill.). Translated by David Radzinowicz as Monet, Water Lilies: The Complete Series, rev. ed., with a cat. rais. by Julie Rouart with Camille Sourisse (Flammarion/Rizzoli, 2008), p. 121 (ill.).79

John Maxon, “Monet Exhibition,” Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago 69, 2 (Mar.–Apr. 1975), p. 2 (ill.).80

Grace Seiberling, “The Evolution of an Impressionist,” in Paintings by Monet, ed. Susan Wise, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago, 1975), p. 37.81

Susan Wise, ed., Paintings by Monet, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago, 1975), p. 158, cat. 101 (ill.).82

Metropolitan Museum of Art, Monet’s Years at Giverny: Beyond Impressionism, exh. cat. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1978), pp. 84, cat. 33 (ill.); 161.83

Kirk Varnedoe, “In Monet’s Gardens,” New York Times Magazine, Apr. 2, 1978, p. 32 (ill.).84

A. James Speyer and Courtney Graham Donnell, Twentieth-Century European Paintings (University of Chicago Press, 1980), p. 58, cat. 3A8; microfiche 3, no. A8 (ill.).85

Grace Seiberling, Monet’s Series (Garland, 1981), pp. 219; 230; 276; 438, fig. 30.86

Robert Gordon and Andrew Forge, Monet (Abrams, 1983), pp. 262, 268–69 (ill.), 294.87

Andrea P. A. Belloli, ed., A Day in the Country: Impressionism and the French Landscape, exh. cat. (Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1984), p. 365.88

Richard R. Brettell, “The Fields of France,” in A Day in the Country: Impressionism and the French Landscape, ed. Andrea P. A. Belloli, exh. cat. (Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1984), p. 246.89

Sylvie Gache-Patin, “Private and Public Gardens,” in A Day in the Country: Impressionism and the French Landscape, ed. Andrea P. A. Belloli, exh. cat. (Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1984), pp. 211; 215; 224; 230; 236; 239, no. 93 (ill.).90

Scott Schaefer, “Rivers, Roads, and Trains,” in A Day in the Country: Impressionism and the French Landscape, ed. Andrea P. A. Belloli, exh. cat. (Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1984), p. 154.91

Scott Schaefer, “The Retreat from Paris,” in A Day in the Country: Impressionism and the French Landscape, ed. Andrea P. A. Belloli, exh. cat. (Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1984), p. 304.92

Richard R. Brettell, “La campagne française,” in Réunion des Musées Nationaux, L’impressionnisme et le paysage français, exh. cat. (Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1985), p. 261.93

Andrew Forge, Monet, Artists in Focus (Art Institute of Chicago, 1995), pp. 61; 64; 95, pl. 24; 109.94

Sylvie Gache-Patin, “Jardins privés et jardins publics,” in Réunion des Musées Nationaux, L’impressionnisme et le paysage français, exh. cat. (Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1985), pp. 217; 220; 252–253, no. 93 (ill.).95

John House, “Catalogue of the Exhibition,” in Auckland City Art Gallery, Claude Monet: Painter of Light, exh. cat. (Auckland City Art Gallery/NZI, 1985), pp. 94–95, cat. 27 (ill.); 106.96

John House, “Monet and the Genesis of His Series,” in Auckland City Art Gallery, Claude Monet: Painter of Light, exh. cat. (Auckland City Art Gallery/NZI, 1985), p. 25.97

Scott Schaefer, “L’évasion loin de Paris,” in Réunion des Musées Nationaux, L’impressionnisme et le paysage français, exh. cat. (Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1985), p. 327.98

Scott Schaefer, “Rivières, routes et chemins de fer,” in Réunion des Musées Nationaux, L’impressionnisme et le paysage français, exh. cat. (Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1985), p. 156.99

Virginia Spate, “Transcending the Moment—Monet’s Water Lilies, 1899–1926,” in Auckland City Art Gallery, Claude Monet: Painter of Light, exh. cat. (Auckland City Art Gallery/NZI, 1985), pp. 30, 31.100

Charles F. Stuckey, ed., Monet: A Retrospective (Hugh Lauter Levin, 1985), p. 237, pl. 93.101

Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet: Biographie et catalogue raisonné, vol. 4, Peintures, 1899–1926 (Bibliothèque des Arts, 1985), pp. 21; 194; 195, cat. 1628 (ill.); 349, letters 1580, 1581; 427, pièces justificatives 151, 152; 431, pièces justificatives 271, 273; 432, pièce justificative 316.102

James G. Ravin, “Monet’s Cataracts,” JAMA: Journal of American Medical Association 254, 3 (July 19, 1985), pp. 394; 395, fig. 2. 103

Kunstmuseum Basel, Claude Monet, Nymphéas: Impression, Vision, exh. cat. (SV International, 1986), pp. 29; 33, cat. 10 (ill.); 172.104

Museo Español de Arte Contemporáneo, Claude Monet, 1840–1926, exh. cat. (Ministerio de Cultura, in collaboration with Fundación para el Apoyo de la Cultura, 1986), pp. 380–81, cat. 94 (ill.); 499.105

Daniel Wildenstein, “Giverny, o La conquista de lo absolute,” in Museo Español de Arte Contemporáneo, Claude Monet, 1840–1926, exh. cat. (Ministerio de Cultura, in collaboration with Fundación para el Apoyo de la Cultura, 1986), p. 68, cat. 94 (ill.).106

Richard R. Brettell, Post-Impressionists (Art Institute of Chicago/Abrams, 1987), pp. 111, 114 (ill.), 118.107

Art Institute of Chicago, Master Paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago, selected by James N. Wood and Katharine C. Lee (Art Institute of Chicago/New York Graphic Society Books/Little, Brown, 1988), p. 72 (ill.).108

Charles F. Stuckey, Monet: Water Lilies (Hugh Lauter Levin/Macmillan, 1988), p. 33, pl. 6.109

Art Institute of Chicago, Master Paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago, selected by James N. Wood and Katharine C. Lee (Art Institute of Chicago/New York Graphic Society Books/Little, Brown, 1988), p. 72 (ill.).110

Paul Hayes Tucker, Monet in the ‘90s: The Series Paintings, exh. cat. (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston/Yale University Press, 1989), pp. 260; 263, pl. 98; 265; 300, cat. 91.111

Philip Sandblom, Creativity and Disease: How Illness Affects Literature, Art and Music, rev. ed. (Marion Boyars, 1995), pp. 131, pl. 52; 203.112

Charles F. Stuckey, with the assistance of Sophia Shaw, Claude Monet, 1840–1926, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago/Thames & Hudson, 1995), pp. 135, cat. 114 (ill.); 234; 246.113

Paul Hayes Tucker, Claude Monet: Life and Art (Yale University Press, 1995), pp. 184; 186, pl. 212.114

Genevieve Morgan, ed., Monet: The Artist Speaks (Collins, 1996), pp. 85 (ill.), 95.115

Daniel Wildenstein, Monet, or The Triumph of Impressionism, cat. rais., vol. 1 (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996), p. 353.116

Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue raisonné/Werkverzeichnis, vol. 4, Nos. 1596–1983 et les grandes décorations (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996), pp. 728–29, cat. 1628 (ill.).117

James G. Ravin, “Artistic Vision in Old Age: Claude Monet,” in Michael F. Marmor and James G. Ravin, The Eye of an Artist (Mosby, 1997), p. 169, fig. 14.1.118

George T. M. Shackelford and MaryAnne Stevens, “The Garden at Giverny, 1900–1902,” in Paul Hayes Tucker with George T. M. Shackelford and MaryAnne Stevens, Monet in the 20th Century, exh. cat. (Royal Academy of Arts, London/Museum of Fine Arts, Boston/Yale University Press, 1998), pp. 118; 120, cat. 1 (ill.).119

Paul Hayes Tucker, “The Revolution in the Garden: Monet in the Twentieth Century,” in Paul Hayes Tucker, with George T. M. Shackelford and MaryAnne Stevens, Monet in the 20th Century, exh. cat. (Royal Academy of Arts, London; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston/Yale University Press, 1998), p. 32.120

Christopher Yetton, Monet in the 20th Century: An Introduction, exh. cat. (Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1999), pp. 30, cat. 1 (ill.); 31 (detail).121

“Monet, les nymphéas: L’exposition,” special issue, Connaissance des arts 137 (1999), pp. 62–63, ill. 59.122

Pierre Georgel, Claude Monet: Nymphéas (Hazan, 1999), pp. 8, 32 (ill.).123

Pierre Georgel with Chantal Georgel and Jacqueline Séjourné, Monet: Le cycle des “Nymphéas,” exh. cat. (Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1999), pp. 31; 81, cat. 6 (ill.).124

Art Institute of Chicago, Impressionism and Post-Impressionism in the Art Institute of Chicago, selected by James N. Wood (Art Institute of Chicago/Hudson Hills, 2000), p. 159 (ill.).125

Christie’s, London, Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Art, sale cat. (Christie’s, June 18, 2000), p. 48, fig. 2.126

Karin Sagner-Düchting, “Monet’s Late Work from the Vantage Point of Modernism,” in Monet and Modernism, ed. Karin Sagner-Düchting, exh. cat. (Prestel, 2001), p. 25.127

Karin Sagner-Düchting, “The Waterlilies in Giverny and the Grande Décoration,” in Monet and Modernism, ed. Karin Sagner-Düchting, exh. cat. (Prestel, 2001), pp. 66, 73 (ill.).128

Norio Shimada and Keiko Sakagami, Kurōdo Mone meigashū: Hikari to kaze no kiseki [Claude Monet: 1881–1926], vol. 2 (Nihon Bijutsu Kyōiku Sentā, 2001), p. 106, no. 234 (ill.); 190.129

Debra N. Mancoff, Monet: Nature into Art (Publications International, 2003), pp. 96–97 (ill.), 128.130

Françoise Cachin, “Claude Monet, Le pont japonais, sur le basin des nymphéas,” in L’impressionnisme, de France et d’Amérique: Monet, Renoir, Sisley, Degas … , ed. Françoise Cachin and Richard R. Brettell, exh. cat. (Artlys/Musée Fabre/Musée de Grenoble, 2007), p. 140.131

Eric M. Zafran, “Monet in America,” in Wildenstein and Co., Claude Monet (1840–1926): A Tribute to Daniel Wildenstein and Katia Granoff, exh. cat. (Wildenstein, 2007), p. 127.132

Gloria Groom and Douglas Druick, with the assistance of Dorota Chudzicka and Jill Shaw, The Impressionists: Master Paintings from the Art Institute of Chicago, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago/Kimbell Art Museum, 2008), pp. 15 (ill.); 19 (ill.); 20 (ill.); 22; 161; 163; 167; 172 (detail); 173, cat. 90 (ill.). Simultaneously published as Gloria Groom and Douglas Druick, with the assistance of Dorota Chudzicka and Jill Shaw, The Age of Impressionism at the Art Institute of Chicago (Art Institute of Chicago/Yale University Press, 2008), pp. 15 (ill.); 19 (ill.); 20 (ill.); 22; 161; 163; 167; 172 (detail); 173, cat. 90 (ill.).^[57]133

Jon Kear, The Treasures of the Impressionists (Andre Deutsch, 2008), pp. 66 (ill.), 72.134

Alec Mishory, Still Life: From Represented Objects to Real Objects, vol. 1 (Open University of Israel, 2008), pp. 241, fig. 208; 292.135

Michael Sciarrillo and Scott Aker, “Drawing as Insight into Wholeness,” Journal for Geometry and Graphics 12, 1 (2008), pp. 87; 89; 91, fig. 1.136

Michel Draguet, Les Nymphéas: Monet; Grandeur; Nature (Hazan, 2010), p. 4, fig. 10.137

Mary Mathews Gedo, Monet and His Muse: Camille Monet in the Artist’s Life (University of Chicago Press, 2010), p. 221, fig. 15.1.138

Marianne Mathieu and Sophie Matthiesson, Monet’s Garden, Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris, exh. cat. (National Gallery of Victoria, 2013), pp. 126 (ill.), 173.139

Documentation from the Durand-Ruel Archives

Inventory number
Stock Durand-Ruel Paris 10710, Durand-Ruel Paris stock book 1913–21^[58]140

Inventory number
Stock Durand-Ruel New York 3807, Durand-Ruel New York stock book 1904–24^[59]141

Photograph number
Photo Durand-Ruel Paris 7970^[60]142

Labels and Inscriptions

Undated

Label
Location: frame
Method: handwritten label
Content: 33 / Art Institute / of Chicago (fig. 37.61)147

Small off-white rectangular label with rounded corners on a dark brown surface. From top to bottom, gray handwriting reads “33,” then “Art Institute,” and below that “Chicago,” with a small “of” to the left of “Chicago.” A thin light-colored fiber or thread runs along the lower-left edge of the label. — Fig. 37.61

Number
Location: frame
Method: handwritten
Content: 1933.441 (fig. 37.62)148

Top edge shows a thin, slightly lighter brown strip with a small jagged gap at the far right. Across the center on a dark brown surface with horizontal lines, large black hand‑written characters read “1933.441,” running left to right and taking up most of the width. Small white specks and faint scratches are visible around the right side of the writing. No other elements are present. — Fig. 37.62

Stamp
Location: frame
Method: stamp
Content: AJD^[65] (fig. 37.63)149

From top to bottom, a flat dark brown surface fills the view. Near the lower-left center, small round holes form the dotted uppercase letters “AJD,” the holes appearing nearly black against the brown. A few additional tiny holes are scattered to the right and along the lower edge. — Fig. 37.63

Pre-1980

Label
Location: pre-1974-treatment stretcher (discarded); preserved in conservation file
Method: printed label with handwritten script
Content: Monet No. 3807 / Le bassin aux / nymphéas 1900 / iabb (fig. 37.58)150

Label
Location: pre-1974-treatment stretcher (discarded); 1974 photograph preserved in conservation file
Method: handwritten label
Content: Monet no. 10710 / Le bassin aux nymphéas / 1900 (fig. 37.57)151

Label
Location: pre-1974-treatment stretcher (discarded); 1974 photograph preserved in conservation file
Method: handwritten label
Content: […] / [n]ymphéas / 1900 (fig. 37.64)152

Top half shows a dark, textured gray background with faint black shapes. Across the bottom third, a lighter gray rectangular strip with a jagged upper edge overlaps the background. On the right side of this strip, small black handwriting reads “nympheas 1900,” while the left side shows darker, unclear curved marks. The composition is a single grayscale scene with elements arranged from top (background) to bottom (overlapping strip). — Fig. 37.64

Number
Location: pre-1974-treatment stretcher (discarded); 1974 photograph preserved in conservation file
Method: handwritten
Content: 7970 (fig. 37.65)153

From the upper left to the lower right, a light diagonal streak crosses a gray, fine-grid surface. Centered across the middle are large, dark handwritten numbers reading “7970.” Near the bottom, a horizontal dark line underlines the numbers, with an additional darker line along the bottom edge. Narrow dark vertical bands border the left and right edges. — Fig. 37.65

Number
Location: pre-1974-treatment stretcher (discarded); 1974 photograph preserved in conservation file
Method: handwritten
Content: 1186 (fig. 37.66)154

At the top, a torn edge of lighter gray paper runs horizontally, with a small fragment of black cursive letters near the left. Across the center and toward the lower right, a darker gray field with fine horizontal lines shows three bold black markings that resemble numerals and a long diagonal stroke slanting up to the right. The right side forms a darker rectangular block of texture, contrasting with the lighter torn area above; colors are black, white, and shades of gray. — Fig. 37.66

Number
Location: pre-1974-treatment stretcher (discarded); 1974 photograph preserved in conservation file
Method: handwritten
Content: 33.441 (fig. 37.67)155

Monochrome close-up of a vertical surface with three main bands: a light gray strip on the left, a medium gray center, and a darker gray strip on the right. Near the left edge, a thin black line runs from top to bottom beside a textured light gray area. In the center band, faint slanted markings appear around the middle, resembling smudged strokes. Along the far right edge, a narrow white line separates the darker band from a black border. — Fig. 37.67

Inscription
Location: pre-1974-treatment stretcher (discarded); 1974 photograph preserved in conservation file
Method: handwritten
Content: D.R.N.Y. 3807 (fig. 37.68)156

A large rectangular field of gray fills the center, covered by a fine grid of vertical and horizontal lines. Narrow black textured bands run along the left and right edges, with a slightly darker horizontal band near the top. Within the central area are scattered darker gray patches and faint, indistinct marks that do not form clear shapes or readable text. — Fig. 37.68

Inscription
Location: pre-1974-treatment stretcher (discarded); 1974 photograph preserved in conservation file
Method: handwritten
Content: illegible [dimensions?] (fig. 37.69)157

Medium gray surface filled with thin, light gray vertical bands running from top to bottom. Small, irregular black dashes and short curved marks are scattered across the upper and middle areas, with several more in the lower half. Narrow dark gray borders line the left and right edges, much thinner than the central area, which continues the same striped texture throughout. — Fig. 37.69

Inscription
Location: pre-1974-treatment stretcher (discarded); 1974 photograph preserved in conservation file
Method: handwritten
Content: [Top? or box?] (fig. 37.70)158

Top section shows a dark gray surface with a rough, pale, crack-like line running left to right. Center area has scattered dark scratches, including an X-shaped mark slightly left of center and a thin curved line to its right that meets a small, bright-edged hole. Right side features several narrow vertical scratch lines, and the bottom edge forms a darker horizontal band. Tones range from black and dark gray to light gray and white around the hole. — Fig. 37.70

Inscription
Location: pre-1974-treatment stretcher (discarded); 1974 photograph preserved in conservation file
Method: handwritten
Content: […] bassin aux nymphéas […] (fig. 37.71)159

Long, narrow black-and-white strip with a dark gray band crossed by thin, light horizontal lines running left to right. Along the top edge, a light gray, rough band with irregular patches stretches across. In the central area are several small circular marks, including a larger oval slightly right of center, and faint scratches and scuffs appear near the lower edge. — Fig. 37.71

Label
Location: previous frame; transcription in conservation file
Method: typewritten label
Content: The Saginaw Museum / “Garden at Giverny” by Monet / Art Institute of Chicago / L1948.365^[66] (fig. 37.72)160

Rectangular black-outlined box on a white background contains four lines of black, typewriter-style text. From top to bottom, the text reads: “The Saginaw Museum,” “'Garden at Giverny' by Monet,” “Art Institute of Chicago,” and “L1948.365,” with a small dot to the right of the last line. — Fig. 37.72

Label
Location: previous frame; transcription in conservation file^[67]
Method: typewritten label
Content: Permanent Exhibit Storage Record / during / 1933 Century of Progress / Gallery No. 33161

Post-1980

Label
Location: backing board
Method: printed label with typewritten script
Content: THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO / artist Claude Monet / Japanese Bridge at Giverny” / title / oil on canvas / medium / 1933.441 / credit / acc. # (fig. 37.73)162

Top center reads “THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO” in black text on an off‑white card. Below, a left column lists “artist,” “title,” “medium,” “credit,” and “acc. #,” with right‑side entries: “Claude Monet,” “Japanese Bridge at Giverny,” “oil on canvas,” a blank space for “credit,” and “1933.441.” The card is light gray/off‑white with black text. — Fig. 37.73

Label
Location: stretcher
Method: printed label with typewritten script and green-ink inventory stamp
Content: THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO / CHICAGO ILLINOIS 60603, U. S. A. / To / MONET, Claude / Pool of Waterlilies / Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Larned Coburn Memorial / Collection
Stamp: Inventory—1980–1981 (fig. 37.74)163

Top section shows a white rectangular label on a beige surface with black uppercase text reading “THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO, CHICAGO ILLINOIS 60603, U.S.A.” and a small round hole on the left. Beneath it, a teal stamp reads “Inventory - 1980 - 1981,” followed by black text listing “MONET, Claude,” the title “Pool of Waterlilies,” a memorial credit line, and the number “1933.441,” with the word “Collection” at the far right. The label is attached to a brown wooden strip, and beige tape runs along the bottom edge. — Fig. 37.74

Stamp
Location: stretcher
Method: green-ink stamp
Content: Inventory—1980–1981 (fig. 37.75)164

Top to bottom: a close-up of reddish-brown wood with fine horizontal grain. Across the middle, faint dark text reads “Inventory - 1980 -” followed by additional numbers that are partially obscured; a small dark speck or hole sits near the unclear digits. Near the lower middle, two thin dark horizontal lines run left to right beneath the text, and a narrow notch is visible along the lower left edge. — Fig. 37.75

Label
Location: stretcher
Method: printed label with typewritten script (in parentheses)
Content: SIT TRANSPORTES INTERNACIONALES, S.A / [logo] S.I.T. / Gran Vía, 66—28013 MADRID / Tel. 247 50 00—Telex 27439 / No (4) / Título “LE PONT JAPONAIS, GIVERNY”) / Exposición (CLAUDE MONET) / Prestador (ART INSTITUTE CHICAGO/CHICAGO)^[68] (fig. 37.76)165

Fig. 37.76

Label
Location: backing board
Method: printed label
Content: MONET IN THE ’90s: / THE SERIES PAINTINGS / Museum of Fine Arts, Boston / Feb 7–Apr 29, 1990 / Art Institute of Chicago / May 19–Aug 12, 1990 / Royal Academy, London / Sep 7–Dec 9, 1990 / CAT# : 91 W: 1628 / TITLE: The Water Lily Pond [Japanese Bridge] / LENDER: The Art Institute of Chicago (fig. 37.77)166

Rectangular beige label with rounded corners and scattered brown specks contains black typewritten text. From top to bottom it reads: “Monet in the ’90s: The Series Paintings,” then venues and dates—Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Feb 7–Apr 29, 1990); Art Institute of Chicago (May 19–Aug 12, 1990); Royal Academy, London (Sep 7–Dec 9, 1990). Near the bottom it lists “CAT#: 91 W: 1628,” “TITLE: The Water Lily Pond [Japanese Bridge],” and “LENDER: The Art Institute of Chicago.” — Fig. 37.77

Label
Location: backing board
Method: printed label with typewritten script (in parentheses)
Content: Museum of Fine Arts / Boston, MA 02115 / (W. 1628 JAPANESE B / Art I., Chicago)^[69] (fig. 37.78)167

Beige rectangular label with rounded corners, read top-to-bottom. Top line in blue: “Museum of Fine Arts Boston, MA 02115.” Middle section has black text “W. 1628 JAPANESE B” with a blue underline. Bottom section shows black text “Art I., Chicago” above a blue line; three blue dots sit along the left edge at the top, middle, and bottom. — Fig. 37.78

Label
Location: backing board
Method: printed label
Content: The Art Institute of Chicago / “Claude Monet: 1840–1926” / July 14, 1995–November 26, 1995 / Catalog: 114 / Water Lily Garden / Le Pont sur le bassin aux nymphéas, Giverny / The Art Institute of Chicago, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis / Larned Coburn Collection (1933.441) (fig. 37.79)168

White rectangular label with black text arranged in centered lines. Top to bottom: “The Art Institute of Chicago,” then “Claude Monet: 1840–1926,” followed by the dates “July 14, 1995 – November 26, 1995.” The next lines read “Catalog: 114,” “Water Lily Garden,” and “Le Pont sur le bassin aux nymphéas, Giverny.” The bottom credits “The Art Institute of Chicago, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Larned Coburn Collection (1933.441).” — Fig. 37.79

Label
Location: backing board
Method: printed label
Content: MONET IN THE 20TH CENTURY / Museum of Fine Arts, Boston / September 20–December 27, 1998 / Royal Academy of Arts, London / January 21–April 18, 1999 / Cat. 1 W. 1628 / Le Pont sur le bassin aux nymphéas, Giverny; / The Bridge over the Water-Lily Pond, 1900 / The Art Institute of Chicago (fig. 37.80)169

Rectangular white label with rounded corners shows centered text in blue and black. Top line in blue reads “MONET IN THE 20TH CENTURY.” Below, black text lists venues and dates: “Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, September 20–December 27, 1998” and “Royal Academy of Arts, London, January 21–April 18, 1999.” At the bottom it reads “Cat. 1 W. 1628,” followed by the artwork title and source: “Le Pont sur le bassin aux nymphéas, Giverny; The Bridge over the Water-Lily Pond, 1900, The Art Institute of Chicago.” — Fig. 37.80

Examination and Analysis Techniques

X-radiography

Westinghouse X-ray unit, scanned on Epson Expressions 10000XL flatbed scanner. Scans digitally composited by Robert G. Erdmann, University of Arizona.170

Infrared Reflectography

Fujifilm S5 Pro with X-Nite 1000B/2 mm filter (1.0–1.1 µm) and Inframetrics Infracam with 1.5–1.73 µm filter.171

Transmitted Infrared

Fujifilm S5 Pro with X-Nite 1000B/2 mm filter (1.0–1.1 µm).172

Visible Light

Normal-light, raking-light, and transmitted-light overalls and macrophotography: Fujifilm S5 Pro with X-NiteCC1 filter.173

Ultraviolet

Fujifilm S5 Pro with X-NiteCC1 filter and Kodak Wratten 2E filter.174

High-Resolution Visible Light (and Ultraviolet)

Sinar P3 camera with Sinarback eVolution 75 H (B+W 486 UV/IR cut MRC filter).175

Microscopy and Photomicrographs

Sample and cross-sectional analysis using a Zeiss Axioplan2 research microscope equipped with reflected light/UV fluorescence and a Zeiss AxioCam MRc5 digital camera. Types of illumination used: darkfield, differential interference contrast (DIC), and UV. In situ photomicrographs with a Wild Heerbrugg M7A StereoZoom microscope fitted with an Olympus DP71 microscope digital camera.176

X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (XRF)

Several spots on the painting were analyzed in situ with a Bruker/Keymaster TRACeR III-V with rhodium tube.177

Polarized Light Microscopy (PLM)

Zeiss Universal research microscope.178

Scanning Electron Microscopy/Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (SEM/EDX)

Cross sections analyzed after carbon coating with a Hitachi S-3400N-II VP-SEM with an Oxford EDS and a Hitachi solid-state BSE detector. Analysis was performed at the Northwestern University Atomic and Nanoscale Characterization Experimental (NUANCE) Center, Electron Probe Instrumentation Center (EPIC) facility.179

Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS)

A Jobin Yvon Horiba LabRAM 300 confocal Raman microscope was used, equipped with an Andor multichannel, Peltier-cooled, open-electrode charge-coupled device detector (Andor DV420-OE322; 1024×256), an Olympus BXFM open microscope frame, a holographic notch filter, and an 1,800-grooves/mm dispersive grating.180

The excitation line of an air-cooled, frequency-doubled, He-Ne laser (632.8 nm) was focused through a 20× objective onto the samples, and Raman scattering was back collected through the same microscope objective. Power at the samples was kept very low (never exceeding a few mW) by a series of neutral density filters in order to avoid any thermal damage.^[70]181

Automated Thread Counting

Thread count and weave information were determined by Thread Count Automation Project software.^[71]182

Image Registration Software

Overlay images registered using a novel image-based algorithm developed by Damon M. Conover (GW), John K. Delaney (GW, NGA), and Murray H. Loew (GW) of the George Washington University’s School of Engineering and Applied Science and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.^[72]183

Image Inventory

The image inventory compiles records of all known images of the artwork on file in the Conservation Department, the Imaging Department, and the Department of Medieval to Modern European Painting and Sculpture at the Art Institute of Chicago (fig. 37.81).184

Fig. 37.81
Location/Negative #	Format	Purpose	Date	Lighting, Notes
C11546	Print		Unknown	In curatorial file
Conservation	8 × 10 B&W negative	Pretreatment	Apr. 4, 1974	Normal, overall
Conservation	8 × 10 B&W negative	Pretreatment	Apr. 4, 1974	Normal, verso
Conservation	8 × 10 B&W negative	Pretreatment	Apr. 4, 1974	Ultraviolet, overall
Conservation	4 × 5 B&W negative	Pretreatment	Apr. 4, 1974	Infrared, overall
C40416			May 7, 1974
E17319			Dec. 1, 1985	Normal, overall
E9089	CT		1989?	Normal, overall
E17778	CT		1989?	Normal, detail: bridge at lower left and water
E17777	CT		Mar. 1989?	Normal, detail: bridge
Conservation	35 mm color slide	Pre- and posttreatment	Aug. 22 and Sept. 4, 2003	Photomicrographs of surface; before and after cleaning (17 total)
G28197	Digital	Loan/publication	Feb. 7, 2008	Normal, overall
G28198	Digital	Loan/publication	Feb. 7, 2008	Normal, detail
132152	Digital	Loan exam	Nov. 2008	Annotated image E17319
Conservation	Digital	OSCI	Dec. 2010	Detail images and scans of verso, labels (21 total)
Conservation	Digital	OSCI	Dec. 8, 2010	Normal, overall
Conservation	Digital	OSCI	Dec. 8, 2010	Infrared (Fuji, 1000B/2 mm filter), overall
Conservation	Digital	OSCI	Dec. 8, 2010	Raking light, overall (2 total)
Conservation	Digital	OSCI	Dec. 8, 2010	Ultraviolet, overall
Conservation	Digital	OSCI	Dec. 8, 2010	Transmitted light, overall (2 total)
Conservation	Digital	OSCI	Dec. 8, 2010	Transmitted infrared (Fuji, 1000B/2 mm filter), overall and left and right sides/composite (4 total)
Conservation	Digital	OSCI	Dec. 8, 2010	X-ray films scanned/digitally composited, overall
Conservation	Digital	OSCI	Dec. 10, 2010	Macro details (15 total)
Conservation	Digital	OSCI	Dec. 14, 2010	Photomicrographs of surface (36 total)
Conservation	Digital	OSCI	Dec. 22, 2010	Photomicrographs of two sample sites (11 total)
G39364	Digital	OSCI	Feb. 14, 2012	Ultraviolet, overall
G39363	Digital	OSCI	Feb. 22, 2012	Normal, overall; composite of G39666–G39695
G39365	Digital	OSCI	Feb. 22, 2012	Normal, frame only
G39666–G39695	Digital	OSCI	Feb. 22, 2012	Sections (30 total)

Notes

Water Lily Pond (W1628) corresponds to Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue raisonné/Werkverzeichnis,vol. 4, Nos. 1596–1983 et les grandes décorations (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996), pp. 728–29, cat. 1628 (ill.). The Art Institute currently uses the title that resulted from the research conducted for the exhibition The Impressionists: Master Paintings from the Art Institute of Chicago. The painting had the following titles during the artist’s lifetime:
July, 22, 1914: Le bassin aux nymphéas, 1900 (Durand-Ruel, Paris, stock book for 1913–21 [no. 10710]; see Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 21, 2013, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago).
Dec. 30, 1914: Le bassin aux nymphéas, 1900 (Durand-Ruel, New York, stock book for 1904–24 [no. 3807]; see Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 21, 2013, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago).
Apr. 8, 1915: Le bassin aux nymphéas, 1900 (Durand-Ruel, New York, stock book for 1904–24 [no. 3807]; see Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 21, 2013, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago).
Monet to Paul Durand-Ruel, Oct. 27, 1890, quoted in Andrea P. A. Belloli, ed., A Day in the Country: Impressionism and the French Landscape, exh. cat. (Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1984), p. 236; original French in Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet: Biographie et catalogue raisonné, vol. 3, Peintures, 1887–1898 (Bibliothèque des Arts, 1979), p. 259, letter 1079.
Details concerning Monet’s gardening and renovations at Giverny have been gleaned from Charles F. Stuckey, with the assistance of Sophia Shaw, Claude Monet, 1840–1926, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago/Thames & Hudson, 1995); and Paul Hayes Tucker, Claude Monet: Life and Art (Yale University Press, 1995).
Monet to the prefect of Eure, July 17, 1893, quoted in Paul Hayes Tucker, “The Revolution in the Garden: Monet in the Twentieth Century,” in Paul Hayes Tucker with George T. M. Shackelford and MaryAnne Stevens, Monet in the 20th Century, exh. cat. (Royal Academy of Arts, London/Museum of Fine Arts, Boston/Yale University Press, 1998), p. 16; original French in Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet: Biographie et catalogue raisonné, vol. 3, Peintures, 1887–1898 (Bibliothèque des Arts, 1979), pp. 274–75, letter 1219.
The 1895 Japanese bridge paintings are The Japanese Bridge at Giverny (subsequently dated 1892; private collection, United States [W1419]) and The Bridge in Monet’s Garden (subsequently dated 1900; bought in Phillips, de Pury & Luxembourg, New York, Nov. 4, 2002, lot 26 [W1419a]). The water lily paintings completed in 1897–98 are Nympheas (c. 1897–98; Los Angeles County Museum of Art [W1501]), Water-Lilies (1897–98; Ohara Gallery, New York [W1502]), Water-Lilies (1897–99; private collection [W1503]), Water-Lilies, Evening Effect (1897–99; Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris [W1504]), Water-Lilies (1897–99; private collection [W1505]), Water-Lilies (1897–99; Kagoshima City Museum of Art [W1506]), Pink Water-Lilies (1897–99; Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderne, Rome [W1507]), and Water-Lilies (1897–99; private collection [W1508]). The number preceded by a W refers to the Monet catalogue raisonné; see Daniel Wildenstein, Monet, or The Triumph of Impressionism, cat. rais., vols. 1–4 (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996). The paintings of water lilies that Monet completed in 1897–98 have been identified as those works that he rediscovered in 1914 and that reinvigorated his project for a mural cycle (see Water Lily Pond [cat. 47] and Irises [cat. 46]). Monet explained: “I am even planning to embark on some big paintings, for which I found some old attempts in a basement. Clemenceau saw them and was amazed. Anyway, you’ll see something of this soon, I hope.” Monet to Gustave Geffroy, Apr. 30, 1914, quoted and translated in Richard Kendall, Monet by Himself: Paintings, Drawings, Pastels, Letters (Macdonald Orbis, 1989), p. 247; original French in Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet: Biographie et catalogue raisonné, vol. 4, Peintures, 1899–1926 (Bibliothèque des Arts, 1985), p. 390, letter 2116. See also Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue raisonné/Werkverzeichnis, vol. 3, Nos. 969–1595 (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996), p. 632.
In her psychoanalytical treatment of Monet, Mary Gedo has recently argued that the 1901 expansion and redesign of the pond “was integrally connected with the death of Camille [Monet’s first wife],” and that “Monet’s preoccupation with watery reflections sprang from his reaction to his mother’s death and his ensuing fantasy that he would float forever in the form of a buoy on the surface of the mother/sea … the water garden, then, would function as his own symbolic tomb, as well as that of his beloved dead women—his mother, Aunt Lecadre, Camille, and eventually Alice.” See Mary Mathews Gedo, Monet and His Muse: Camille Monet in the Artist’s Life (University of Chicago Press, 2010), pp. 222–24.
The number preceded by a W refers to the Monet catalogue raisonné; see Daniel Wildenstein, Monet, or The Triumph of Impressionism, cat. rais., vols. 1–4 (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996).
The number preceded by a W refers to the Monet catalogue raisonné; see Daniel Wildenstein, Monet, or The Triumph of Impressionism, cat. rais.,vols. 1–4 (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996).
Geneviève Aitken and Marianne Delafond, La collection d’estampes japonaises de Claude Monet à Giverny (Maison de Monet/Bibliothèque des Arts, 1983), pp. 128, cat. 142; 133, cat. 152. It is not known whether Monet owned impressions of these prints at the time of painting Water Lily Pond, however. But, as noted by John House, by 1895 “Monet’s awareness of Japanese art was inseparable from his direct experiences of nature” and that “even where we can compare his paintings with particular Japanese prints which he owned, he may well have bought the print in question after he had painted the work it resembles, perhaps even because of this resemblance.” John House, Monet: Nature into Art (Yale University Press, 1986), p. 58.
Paul Hayes Tucker, “The Revolution in the Garden: Monet in the Twentieth Century,” in Paul Hayes Tucker with George T. M. Shackelford and MaryAnne Stevens, Monet in the 20th Century, exh. cat. (Royal Academy of Arts, London/Museum of Fine Arts, Boston/Yale University Press, 1998), p. 23. Tucker suggests that Monet’s change in style had much to do with the Dreyfus affair (an intense political scandal in French history involving Alfred Dreyfus, French army officer of Jewish descent falsely charged with treason) and signaled Monet’s belief that France should step back and reassess its core values. These ideas are discussed in Monet in the 20th Century as well as in Paul Hayes Tucker, Monet in the ‘90s: The Series Paintings, exh. cat. (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston/Yale University Press, 1989); and Tucker, Claude Monet: Art and Life (Yale University Press, 1995).
The number preceded by a W refers to the Monet catalogue raisonné; see Daniel Wildenstein, Monet, or The Triumph of Impressionism, cat. rais., vols. 1–4 (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996).
The exhibition was held from November 22 to December 15, 1900, and the water lily paintings were shown alongside two works from his Creuse series (e.g., cat. 25), five of his Norwegian canvases (e.g., cat. 34), three cliff paintings (e.g., cat. 21), and three examples from the Mornings on the Seine series.
Gloria Groom, “Water Lily Pond,” in Gloria Groom and Douglas Druick with the assistance of Dorota Chudzicka and Jill Shaw, The Age of Impressionism at the Art Institute of Chicago (Art Institute of Chicago, 2008), p. 173.
Paul Hayes Tucker has provided a helpful summary of the exhibition’s mixed reviews in “The Revolution in the Garden: Monet in the Twentieth Century,” in Paul Hayes Tucker with George T. M. Shackelford and MaryAnne Stevens, Monet in the 20th Century, exh. cat. (Royal Academy of Arts, London/Museum of Fine Arts, Boston/Yale University Press, 1998), pp. 34–37.
Saunier quoted in Paul Hayes Tucker, Claude Monet: Life and Art (Yale University Press, 1995), p. 187.
Paul Hayes Tucker, “The Revolution in the Garden: Monet in the Twentieth Century,” in Paul Hayes Tucker with George T. M. Shackelford and MaryAnne Stevens, Monet in the 20th Century, exh. cat. (Royal Academy of Arts, London/Museum of Fine Arts, Boston/Yale University Press, 1998), pp. 24–25.
For further discussion, see Kimberley Muir, Inge Fiedler, Don H. Johnson, and Robert Erdmann, “Thread Count, Weave, and Ground Analysis of Claude Monet’s Vieille & Troisgros/Troisgros Frères Canvases in the Art Institute of Chicago,” in Painting Techniques: History, Materials and Studio Practice (Rijksmuseum, forthcoming). The numbers preceded by a W refer to the Monet catalogue raisonné; see Daniel Wildenstein,Monet: Catalogue raisonnéWerkverzeichnis, vols. 1–4 (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996).
For an overview of the materials and methods of Claude Monet’s paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago, see Kimberley Muir, Inge Fiedler, Don H. Johnson, and Robert G. Erdmann, “An In-depth Study of the Materials and Technique of Paintings by Claude Monet from the Art Institute of Chicago,” ICOM-CC 17th Triennial Meeting Preprints, Melbourne, Sept. 15–19, 2014 (forthcoming).
Using the toolbar at the bottom right, any two images of the painting may be selected for comparison by clicking the layers icon to the right of the slider bar. The slider bar may be moved to transition back and forth between the two chosen images. The jagged line icon brings up a list of available annotations, or colored lines that show the significant features visible in each image, which may be turned on or off in any combination. For example, the red annotation lines, associated with the natural-light image, trace some of the painting’s key compositional features. When overlaid onto a technical image (X-ray, raking light, UV, etc.), the red outlines help the viewer to better observe how features in the technical image relate to or diverge from the painting as seen with the naked eye. (When annotations are turned on, a legend appears in the upper right showing each color and its associated image type.) The circular arrow icon returns the image to the default settings (normal light, full-image view, natural-light [red] annotation on). The four-arrow icon toggles between the view of the image in the page and a full-screen view of the image. In the upper right corner, the vertical slider bar may be moved to zoom into or out of the image; different parts of the image can be accessed by clicking and dragging within the image itself. The icon in the upper left corner opens a small view of the full image, within which a red box indicates the portion of the overall image being viewed when zooming is enabled.
XRF analysis, in conjunction with microscopic and UV examination of the painting surface, indicates that the paint mixture contains vermilion, cobalt violet, and red lake; other pigments may also be present. See Kimberley Muir, “Mon_WLPond_33_441_XRF_Results,” Dec. 13, 2011, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.
Flax was confirmed by microscopic cross-sectional fiber identification. See Inge Fiedler, “1933_441_Monet_analytical_report,” May 21, 2014, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.
The previous stretcher was probably the original stretcher. See examination record of auxiliary support, n.d., on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.
See, for example, chart of standard sizes available from Bourgeois Aîné in 1888, reproduced in David Bomford, Jo Kirby, John Leighton, and Ashok Roy, Art in the Making: Impressionism (National Gallery, London/Yale University Press, 1990), p. 46, fig. 31.
Thread count and weave information determined by Thread Count Automation Project software; see Don H. Johnson and Robert G. Erdmann, “Thread Count Report: Claude Monet, Water Lily Pond (W1628/1933.441),” Nov. 2011.
See Don H. Johnson, “Weave Match Report: Claude Monet, W1231, W1269, W1270, W1278, W1284, W1397, W1475, W1628,” Apr. 2011. For further discussion, see Kimberley Muir, Inge Fiedler, Don H. Johnson, and Robert Erdmann, “Thread Count, Weave, and Ground Analysis of Claude Monet’s Vieille & Troisgros/Troisgros Frères Canvases in the Art Institute of Chicago,” in Painting Techniques: History, Materials and Studio Practice (Rijksmuseum, forthcoming). The numbers preceded by a W refer to the Monet catalogue raisonné; see Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue raisonné/Werkverzeichnis, vols. 1–4 (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996).
See examination record of auxiliary support, n.d., on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.
See Inge Fiedler, “1933_441_Monet_analytical_report,” May 21, 2015, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.
Microfossils were identified by PLM and SEM/EDX. See Inge Fiedler, “1933_441_Monet_analytical_report,” May 21, 2014.
Traces of magnesium, aluminum, and silicon were detected in association with the calcium particles and are believed to be impurities often associated with the chalk. The ground composition was analyzed using [glossary:SEM/EDX], PLM, and XRF. See Inge Fiedler, “1933_441_Monet_analytical_report,” May 21, 2014; Inge Fiedler, “1933_441_Monet_PLM_results,” Oct. 17, 2013; Kimberley Muir, “Mon_WLPond_33_441_XRF_Results,” Dec. 13, 2011, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.
Possible charcoal particles were found in several of the paint scraping samples analyzed with PLM. See Inge Fiedler, “1933_441_Monet_analytical_report,” May 21, 2014, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.
In areas where the ground layer is exposed, it too is often abraded, with the peaks of the canvas threads visible at the surface. This abrasion also appears to have occurred while Monet was working on the painting, since subsequent brushwork passes over the abraded areas.
In the upper left corner, pale-purple paint was added later over the areas of exposed ground, providing the light tone in some places.
The pigments were identified by the following methods: lead white, cadmium yellow, vermilion, viridian, cobalt blue, cobalt violet (PLM; XRF); chrome yellow, red lake, ultramarine blue (PLM); madder lake (SERS). XRF analysis detected cobalt and arsenic in areas of purple paint, indicating that the cobalt violet is a cobalt arsenate. Paint scraping samples taken in 1974 were reexamined by PLM in 2013. Analysis was carried out on selected areas and may not include all pigments present in the painting. For more detailed results and conditions used, see Inge Fiedler, “1933_441_Monet_analytical_report,” May 21, 2014; Inge Fiedler, “1933_441_Monet_PLM_results,” Oct. 17, 2013; Federica Pozzi, “SERS_spectroscopy_results,” Apr. 17, 2014; Kimberley Muir, “Mon_WLPond_33_441_XRF_Results,” Dec. 13, 2011, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.
Identifying the specific type of lake used only by its fluorescence under UV is difficult, as many factors, including the type of substrate, binders, varnishes, and admixtures with other pigments, can ultimately affect the perceived color of the fluorescence. Some types of madder and purpurin lake pigments have been reported to fluoresce orange, but other lakes, such as lacs, may fluoresce as well. The characteristics of red lakes, including their fluorescence under UV, are discussed in Helmut Schweppe and John Winter, “Madder and Alizarin,” in Artists’ Pigments: A Handbook of Their History and Characteristics, ed. Elisabeth West FitzHugh, vol. 3 (National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1997), pp. 124–26. See also Ruth Johnston-Feller, Color Science in the Examination of Museum Objects: Nondestructive Procedures (Getty Conservation Institute, 2001), p. 207.
The binding medium was not analyzed. The estimation of an oil medium is based on visual examination, as well as on knowledge of Monet’s technique and published analyses of Monet paintings in other collections. See, for example, David Bomford, Jo Kirby, John Leighton, and Ashok Roy, Art in the Making: Impressionism (National Gallery, London/Yale University Press, 1990), pp. 72–75.
See Kristin Lister, treatment report, Nov. 15, 1998, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.
Kirk Vuillemot, “Monet Frame Descriptions Final,” Dec. 3, 2013, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.
According to Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue raisonné, vol. 4, Nos. 1596–1983 et les grandes décorations (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996), pp. 728–29, cat. 1628 (ill.).
According to Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue raisonné/Werkverzeichnis, vol. 4, Nos. 1596–1983 et les grandes décorations (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996), pp. 728–29, cat. 1628 (ill.).
According to Durand-Ruel, Paris, stock book for 1913–21 (no. 10710, as Le bassin aux nymphéas, 1900): “Purchased from Léonce Rosenberg by DR Paris on 22 July 1914 for 21 000 F; Stock DR Paris no. 10710; photo no. 7970,” as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 21, 2013, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.
The transaction is documented in the Durand-Ruel, Paris, stock book for 1913–21 (no. 10710, as Le bassin aux nymphéas,1900): “Purchased from Léonce Rosenberg by DR Paris on 22 July 1914 for 21 000 F / Stock DR Paris no. 10710; photo no. 7970,” as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 21, 2013, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.
The Paris and New York Durand-Ruel stock books give different dates for the sale. The Paris stock book for 1913–21 (no. 10710 as Le bassin aux nymphéas, 1900) states: “Sold to DR New York on 3 December 1914.” The New York stock book for 1904–24 (no. 3807, as Le bassin aux nymphéas, 1900) states: “Purchased by DR New York on 30 December 1914.” See Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 21, 2013, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.
The transaction is documented in the Durand-Ruel, New York, stock book for 1904–24 (no. 3807, as Le bassin aux nymphéas, 1900): “sold to Arthur Meeker on 8 Apr. 1915 for $7 400.” See Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 21, 2013, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago. According to Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue raisonné/Werkverzeichnis, vol. 4, Nos. 1596–1983 et les grandes décorations (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996), pp. 728–29, cat. 1628 (ill.), the painting was acquired again by Durand-Ruel around 1923. Wildenstein cites a letter from Durand-Ruel to A. Meeker, dated Nov. 24, 1923, in which Durand-Ruel writes that they are happy to hold the Monet Bassin aux nymphéas on deposit and that they will do their best to sell it on Mr. Meeker’s behalf. See Daniel Wildenstein, Claude Monet: Biographie et catalogue raisonné, vol. 4, Peintures, 1899–1926 (Bibliothèque des Arts, 1985), p. 432, pièce justificative 316. According to the Durand-Ruel Archives, “Wildenstein catalogue mentions a purchase from Meeker by Durand-Ruel in 1923; we have not found such information in our archives,” see Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 21, 2013, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.
Confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 21, 2013, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.
According to annotated checklist in curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago. After the exhibition at Dayton, the paintings were returned to the Art Institute of Chicago for summer storage before being reshipped for the remainder of the circuit exhibition; see receipt of object 11043, on file in Museum Registration, Art Institute of Chicago. According to an annotated schedule of the circuit exhibition (on file Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago) the paintings were in summer storage July 4–25. According to shipping out order 40270 (on file Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago), the paintings were in summer storage July–August. The paintings were scheduled to travel to the San Francisco, Legion of Honor, after summer storage, August 5–26, however this venue was canceled, so it is likely that the paintings stayed at the Art Institute through August; see annotated schedule of the circuit exhibition, on file Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago.
According to annotated checklist in curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago; and shipping out order 40270, on file Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago. The dates of the exhibition held at this venue are recorded on an annotated schedule of the circuit exhibition, on file Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago.
According to annotated schedule of the circuit exhibition, on file in Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago.
According to annotated schedule of the circuit exhibition, on file in Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago.
According to annotated checklist in curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago; and Saginaw Museum, Exhibition of Nineteenth Century French Painting, exh. cat. (Saginaw Museum, 1949), p. 9, cat. 20.
According to annotated schedule of the circuit exhibition, on file in Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago.
According to annotated checklist in curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago. The dates of the exhibition held at this venue are recorded on an annotated schedule of the circuit exhibition, on file Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago; see also Mrs. John A. Pope, American Federation of Arts to Daniel Catton Rich, dated Mar. 18, 1949, on file Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago.
According to annotated checklist in curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago. The dates of the exhibition held at this venue are recorded on an annotated schedule of the circuit exhibition, on file Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago; see also Mrs. John A. Pope, American Federation of Arts to Daniel Catton Rich, dated Mar. 18, 1949, on file Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago. Receipt of object 11524 (on file in Museum Registration, Art Institute of Chicago) documents the return of the painting to the Art Institute from the Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute on May 16, 1949. The annotated schedule includes a final venue to follow Utica, New York—Scranton, Pennsylvania, Everhart Museum, May 10–31, 1949—however, this venue was canceled; see Gladys E. Acton, American Federation of Arts to Daniel Catton Rich, dated May 4, 1949, on file in Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago.
Remington Rand was located at 444 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago. See shipping out order A1107, on file in Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago; receipt of object 12931, on file in Museum Registration, Art Institute of Chicago.
The exhibition catalogue is printed in Art Institute of Chicago, “Catalogue,” Art Institute of Chicago Quarterly 51, 2 (Apr. 1, 1957), pp. 33–34. This museum publication listed the exhibition dates as April 1–30 (p. 36); however, the show was extended until June 15. See Edith Weigle, “The Wonderful World of Art,” Chicago Daily Tribune, May 26, 1957, p. E2, for an exhibition review and reference to the extension of the length of the show. The April 1957 issue of the Art Institute of Chicago Quarterly was largely dedicated to the Monet works in the Art Institute’s collection. The exhibition marked the first time the Art Institute’s thirty Monet paintings were shown together.
The painting was included in the exhibition according to Museum Registrars’ records, Museum Registration, Art Institute of Chicago.
According to Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue raisonné/Werkverzeichnis, vol. 4, Nos. 1596–1983 et les grandes décorations (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996), pp. 728–29, cat. 1628 (ill.).
The latter was republished as Gloria Groom and Douglas Druick, with the assistance of Dorota Chudzicka and Jill Shaw, The Age of French Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Art Institute of Chicago, rev. and expanded ed. (Art Institute of Chicago/Yale University Press, 2010; repr. 2013), pp. 15 (ill.); 19 (ill.); 20 (ill.); 22; 177; 179; 183; 188 (detail); 189, cat. 103 (ill.).
See Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 20, 2013, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.
See Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 20, 2013, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.
See Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 20, 2013, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.
The label was located on the pre-1974-treatment stretcher (discarded); now preserved in conservation file, Art Institute of Chicago.
The label was located on the pre-1974-treatment stretcher (discarded); now preserved in conservation file, Art Institute of Chicago.
The inscription was located on the pre-1974-treatment stretcher (discarded); see 1974 photograph preserved in conservation file, Art Institute of Chicago.
The inscription was located on the pre-1974-treatment stretcher (discarded); see 1974 photograph preserved in conservation file, Art Institute of Chicago.
The stamp was applied by Anthony J. Domolecny, conservation carpenter at the Art Institute of Chicago from the 1960s to the early 1980s.
The label was transcribed in 1977; see twentieth-century painting and sculpture report on verso of painting, July 20, 1977, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago. The label corresponds to the exhibition 19th Century French Paintings from the Collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, a circuit exhibition organized by the American Federation of Arts held at the Dayton Art Museum, June 1–June 22, 1948; Saginaw, Michigan, Saginaw Museum, Dec. 19, 1948–Jan. 9, 1949; Memphis, Brooks Memorial Art Gallery, Mar. 1949; and Utica, Munson-Williams.
The label was transcribed in 1977; see twentieth-century painting and sculpture report on verso of painting, July 20, 1977, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.
Corresponds to the exhibition Madrid, Museo Español de Arte Contemporáneo, Claude Monet, 1840–1926, Apr. 29–June 30, 1986.
Corresponds to the exhibition Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, Monet in the ’90s: The Series Paintings, Feb. 7–Apr. 29, 1990; Art Institute of Chicago, May 19–Aug. 12, 1990; and London, Royal Academy of Arts, Sept. 7–Dec. 9, 1990 (Boston and Chicago only).
For a discussion of sample preparation and the use of SERS to identify red lake pigments, see Federica Pozzi, Klaas Jan van den Berg, Inge Fiedler, and Francesca Casadio, “A Systematic Analysis of Red Lake Pigments in French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Paintings by Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS),” Journal of Raman Spectroscopy (forthcoming 2014); doi:10.1002/jrs.4483.
See Don H. Johnson, C. Richard Johnson, Jr., Andrew G. Klein, William A. Sethares, H. Lee, and Ella Hendriks, “A Thread Counting Algorithm for Art Forensics,” 2009 IEEE Thirteenth Digital Signal Processing and Fifth IEEE Signal Processing Education Workshop (IEEE, 2009), pp. 679–84; doi:10.1109/DSP.2009.4786009.
See Damon M. Conover, John K. Delaney, Paola Ricciardi, and Murray H. Loew, “Towards Automatic Registration of Technical Images of Works of Art,” in Computer Vision and Image Analysis of Art II, ed. David G. Stork, James Coddington, and Anna Bentkowska-Kafel, Proc. SPIE 7869 (SPIE/IS&T, 2011), doi:10.1117/12.872634.

How to Cite

Entry by Jill Shaw; Technical Report by Kimberley Muir and Kirk Vuillemot, “Cat. 37 Water Lily Pond, 1900,” in Monet Paintings and Drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago, ed. Gloria Groom and Jill Shaw, rev. ed. (2014; repr., Art Institute of Chicago, 2026), https://doi.org/10.53269/9780865592698/27.

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