"Water Lilies" by French Impressionism artist Claude Monet, 1916.

Claude Monet was the founder of the French Impressionist painting and was the most consistent in applying this method in his paintings.

Claude Monet painted this particular "Water Lily" painting after his wife, Alice, died. His water lily paintings were not generally known about until the middle of the twentieth century. After they were discovered it was realized they were painted with many layers and some took many years to paint. His style of painting changed after his wife passed away. He had broader brush strokes, almost like abstract painting, and he painted his water lily pond with less reflections.

The death of his wife seemed to have created a period where it was hard for him to paint again. Gradually he started again, and this time had huge canvases, something not common in those days.

Earlier in his life Alice Hoschede was a large influence of encouragement for him. As that love for each other grew, so did his painting style as he painted the light reflecting in the garden and Japanese style water lily pond. She was diagnosed with leukaemia in 1910 and died in 1911. It was several years before he could paint normally again.

That was when the large canvas came out and he began painting with large broad brushstrokes and an almost unrealistic abstract manner.

After this, he decided to paint a large memory to his wife and his garden. It would be called "The Grandes Decorations". It consisted of huge panels featuring his pond, in all would be 300 feet long, on the wall of a big oval shaped room.

The Grandes Decorations can be seen in l’Orangerie Museum in Paris on the Place de la Concorde, opposite to Musée d’Orsay. They won’t travel ever, they cannot be dismounted. The museum has just been renovated for six years and these extremely valuable paintings didn’t move while the ceiling of their rooms were opened and transformed.

Monet donated them to the French state to celebrate the victory of 1918. He donated a ten year work! He started this huge project when he was 70 years old and it took 10 years to accomplish.