I've been reading about Monet lately and have learned a great deal about the artist that I didn't know before. One of the things that fascinated me the most was the last 20 years of Monet's life. After he purchased his home at Giverny, he created an elaborate garden filled with flowers, ponds, and water lilies. He spent the next 20 years of his life painting daily from this garden he had created. These water lily paintings have defined a great portion of Monet's most recognized art.
How one subject can occupy your attention for so long, I'm not sure I'll ever understand. Perhaps the constant study of the same garden forced Monet continuously find new beauty and interest in the garden. I am simply fascinated at the idea of Monet sitting in his beautiful garden day after day, for twenty years, painting the same subjects again and again. Of course no two paintings are the same, but I can't help but think that he must have had some sort of unrequited and passionate love for this garden that occupied so much of his life.
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