Published: October 8, 2009

On Sept. 13, The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) let the public through its doors to immerse themselves in the beauty of Claude Monet’s “Water Lilies” for the first time in eight years.

Monet is best known as one of the founders of impressionism along with such artists as Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro and Paul Cézanne. Deriving its name from Monet’s “Impression, Sunrise,” Impressionism emerged in the 19th century and is most known for its inclusion of visible brushstrokes in bright colors and an emphasis on reflected light. Monet’s most recognized pieces are part of his “Water Lilies” collection, a collection painted throughout his life based on his gardens and the water lily pond around his house in Giverny, France.

The “Water Lilies” installation at MoMA features six paintings from Monet’s famous collection, including the triptych (a three panel painting), “Water Lilies,” which is part of the permanent collection at the museum.

“Water Lilies” is displayed facing the entrance of the exhibit and stands as the focal point of the collection as it persuades visitors to enter. It is one of Monet’s many representations of water lilies floating on a pond and it is most recognized for its mixture of rich tonalities.

“It is the union of two universes, the floral universe and the universe of Monet’s mind who painted the reflection of the pink clouds,” said Alfredo Mendoza, Ph.D, an alum of San Carlos Academy of the Arts in Mexico City.  “The artist manages to synthesize his lilies, the water and the sky. Only a sensitive spirit like Monet could incorporate these universes and this is also the reason for the magnitude of the painting, because he would not have been able to do it on a smaller surface.”

On the opposite wall hangs a single panel also entitled “Water Lilies,” which consists of much lighter tones. Instead of rich greens and royal blues, the flowers represented by Monet in this painting are composed of desaturated tones of lavender and turquoise.

“I feel like it’s a secret, like you are supposed to look at them from far away,” said Sara Lynch, Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH) ’11. “I turn my back [to] one of the paintings and I look at the one hanging directly across the room from far away. It is like seeing two different exhibits when you go up close to them and when you take a step back.”

The walls adjacent to both this lone panel and the triptych each display two paintings. Out of these four smaller paintings, “The Japanese Footbridge” and “Agapanthus” attract the biggest audiences.

“The Japanese Footbridge” is a clear depiction of the Japanese footbridge that crossed over Monet’s water lily pond. It is among the artist’s final paintings on the subject and it exhibits darker fall-like colors such as deep shades of orange and red with bits of yellow and green.

On the other hand, “Agapanthus” illustrates a set of water lilies on a grassy setting through the use of very rich greens. In this painting, Monet’s impressionist techniques invoke a sense of movement on the canvas and create confusion between water and wind.

However, the exhibit installation is considerably small since most of the paintings from Monet’s “Water Lilies” collection hang permanently in the Orangerie in Paris, where the artist requested specially constructed galleries with curved walls.

“It could have been more, but unfortunately we do not have more,” said Lois Barnett, a volunteer at the MoMA. “It was interesting to see and appreciate the works we do not own, but I was definitely expecting more.”

Ann Howard, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’10, said, “I think it’s rather small, but overall, all the paintings are very different from each other and the arrangement shows the different seasons of the year, something every New Yorker can relate to.”

Abby Goldstein, associate professor of visual arts at FCLC said, “As a young art student in New York, Monet’s ‘Water Lilies’ paintings were a refuge and inspiration for me. I would walk into that original room at MoMA with just Monet’s paintings surrounding me and be transported into Monet’s garden, swallowed up and mesmerized by his sense of color, space and atmosphere.”

The exhibition will be showing at the MoMA until April 2010. It is a must-see not only for art lovers, but also for all those students who are looking for a good way to spend a New York autumn day.