Water Lilies

At the Paris World's Fair of 1889, the one that gave the city the Eiffel Tower, a nurseryman from south-west France named Joseph Bory Latour-Marliac showed hardy water lilies in colour. Until then, the lilies that survived a northern winter were almost all white. He had crossed them with species from warmer climates and brought 19 coloured varieties to Paris, winning first prize in his category. Monet noticed them. In 1894, with his new pond at Giverny dug, he placed his first order with Latour-Marliac, buying as many lotus plants as lilies. This canvas, signed and dated 1907 in the lower right corner, comes from his ninth year of painting that pond. Pink and deep red flowers float in the lower left, paler ones across the right, with the sky reflected between the leaves. It now hangs in the Pola Museum of Art in Hakone.