↗Water Lilies (Agapanthus)
Claude Monet
Gift of Mrs. Henry White Cannon · The Cleveland Museum of Art
Image: public domain (CC0) · Museum record & image source ↗
This is one of several views Claude Monet painted of Pourville, a fishing village on the north coast of France in Normandy. Pourville featured a boardwalk, a broad beach, and stunning cliffs. According to the artist's correspondence, the village was nothing special, but he was inspired by the landscape: "One could not be any closer to the sea than I am, on the pebbled beach itself and the waves beat at the foot of the house." During the spring of 1882 in Pourville, Monet stayed in a small hotel similar to the dwellings seen at the foot of the cliff to the right in this painting.
Collection text · The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0Start with what you can see: shapes, surface, colour and scale. How might the listed materials affect the way this object was made and experienced?
Looking prompt · an invitation to observe, not a historical interpretation.