This painting is one of Monet's most abstract and expressive water lily paintings, with very little context of the overall garden provided. Even the individual items within the pond are much harder to decipher here, and perhaps we are witnessing an artist who is looking for another way of depicting the same theme. He worked tirelessly within his garden, capturing it from all manner of different angles and he would produce work from here for several decades. He loved the beauty of this garden but also appreciated the accessibility which enabled him to work within nature whenever he liked. There was actually a garden already at his property in Giverny, but he chose to expand in order to add this delightful water feature.
Those fortunate enough to see this piece in person will be drawn into the detail, attempting to work out what they are actually looking at. Gone are the clear symbols associated with his work on water lilies, with some identifiable features being placed within a myriad of colour and expression which might remind some of the earlier classic paintings of William Turner, such as Rain Steam Speed and Snow Storm. We do know that members of this gallery where the paintings now reside, had actually visited the garden themselves many years ago and so were entirely connected to this piece. The house itself was purchased as early as 1883, but this part of the garden took many more years to complete, before then needing further years in order for the garden to truly establish itself.
The Kunsthaus Zürich in Switzerland host this painting, along with around a dozen other artworks from Monet. The artist's work has become more widely dispersed than pretty much any other artist in history, with his reputation spreading to all the corners of the globe. He was also exceptionally productive, allowing more of his work to displayed in a wider variety of galleries and museums all around the world. Documentation around this painting have highlighted Emil Georg Bührle as being responsible for bringing to the institution, with a donation in 1952. Each panel measures a huge six metres wide, by two metres tall, though this is completely consistent with the murals that he produced of items in his garden, with some being even larger than that.
