Agapanthus

Agapanthus by Claude Monet, dating to 1914, is a powerful oil on canvas painting that exemplifies the artist’s revolutionary late style. This massive work is part of the iconic Nymphéas (Water Lilies) cycle, the profound series of decorative panels that dominated the celebrated French Impressionist’s production during the period of 1914-26.

Working at his estate in Giverny, Monet moved beyond traditional observational rendering to focus on the intricate surface dynamics of his water garden. The painting captures the rich reflections, submerged depths, and floating foliage, utilizing broad, unblended passages of color. In this canvas, the artist translates the actual agapanthus flowers and their dense, spiky shadows into near-abstract fields of purple, green, and deep blue. Monet’s technique during this era is characterized by increasingly thick, expressive applications of paint, anticipating the lyrical abstraction that would define much of 20th-century art.

Despite the failing eyesight and the immense national stress caused by the First World War, Monet committed to creating these monumental works, many of which were intended as large-scale decorative installations designed to immerse the viewer entirely in the natural environment. This effort reflects the artist's dedication to light and color studies even in his advanced years.

The work currently resides in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, where it stands as a testament to the transition from Impressionism toward modernism. Due to the wide distribution and renown of the Nymphéas series, high-quality prints and studies of this era of Monet’s painting are highly sought after, with many related works now residing in the public domain.