MONET Water Lily Pond 1897 Note Card

French Impressionist painter, Claude Monet, painted this "Water Lily Pond 1897" originally as an oil on canvas painting from the inspirations of his own backyard in Giverny, France, around the turn of the 20th Century. A collector of Japanese wood cut prints portraying Japanese gardens, Monet attempted to re-create the magic in his own water pond, much to the dismay of his neighbours who feared he might pollute the river Seine. The lovely picturesque Japanese footbridge over the pond was just such an addition to the landscape by Monet. Never before had an artist set out to create the scenes from nature which he was about to paint. In a sense, he created his art twice. The more paintings he sold, the more his gardens evolved until he eventually employed a staff of seven gardeners to manage his greenhouse and grounds.