Today, I’ll be featuring the Musée de l’Orangerie, one of my favorite museums, in my Joy of Traveling series! The Musée de l’Orangerie is in Paris, France, and holds some of the most notable artworks from artists like Picasso, Cezanne, and most notably, Claude Monet.
The Musée de l’Orangerie is most well-known for its stunning collection of Monet’s famous eight Water Lilies mural, which I’ve included below.
(The captions from top to bottom translate: tree reflections, the clouds, the clear morning with the willows)
(The two willows, sunset)
(Green highlights, morning, morning at the willows)
Monet’s collection of water lily paintings was installed in the Musée de l’Orangerie a few months after his death. Monet had offered it to the French state as a symbol of peace following the Armistice in 1918. From 1980 to his death in 1926, Monet largely devoted himself to the completion of the Nymphéas [Water Lilies] cycle.
Aren’t these paintings absolutely beautiful? They truly took my breath away when I toured the Musée de l’Orangerie, especially with its unique display of these murals in its two elliptical rooms. Fun fact: the display design was conceived by Monet himself! His intention was to give the viewer the « illusion of an endless whole, of a wave without horizon and without shore » in his own words.
https://www.musee-orangerie.fr/en <- link to the museum website
https://www.musee-orangerie.fr/en/node/197502 <- link to the museum’s collection of water lilies
Comments