How Monet's water lilies went from doodles to real stars

In Greek mythology, nymphéa signifies the birth of a flower from a nymph who died of love for Hercules. In French, it translates to water lilies, but for Claude Monet, it meant everything. It was the pond covered with water lilies at his home in Giverny that inspired a project occupying the artist for over three decades, from the late 1890s until his death. This led to the creation of nearly 300 works, now displayed at the Musée de l’Orangerie, which welcomed no less than 5 million visitors last year. However, the collection, on display since 1927, did not immediately attract the crowds it does today. While in 2024 Monet’s water lilies are globally renowned and draw thousands of tourists year-round, it is thanks to a young Ukrainian gallery owner who saw Monet’s paintings as more than mere scribbles. Here is the story of how the world’s most famous water lilies rose to fame.

More than 20 years after their arrival at the museum, as the post-war period embraced contemporary art, American pop art, and Impressionism, Monet’s creations had fallen out of favor. However, Katia Granoff, a Ukrainian gallery owner based in Paris, found them magnificent and took advantage of the empty galleries to admire them endlessly. Meanwhile, Monet’s house in Giverny, located in the Seine Valley, suffered the same neglect as the paintings, left abandoned after the death of Monet’s stepdaughter. His stepson decided it was time to sell the house, which had become more of a burden than a source of happy memories. Katia found the perfect investors, mainly Americans, and thus sent a piece of Monet’s work across the Atlantic, introducing it to a new audience ready to appreciate it.

Although the water lily collection is composed of numerous paintings around the same theme, it surprisingly avoids monotony. The works honor plein air painting, far from dark, cramped studios suffocated by the smell of acrylic. Each is bathed in hypnotic light, making it hard to look away. Moreover, the colors are harmonious, soothing, and calming, thanks to Monet’s sharp eye for blending complementary colors to achieve sensory balance. While the series is centered on water lilies, it also captures the water beneath them, its surface, colors, and movements, allowing Monet to freely use yellows, pinks, lavenders, greens, and blues to depict Giverny’s true light. For darker scenes, the artist never used black, as he believed it dulled the work. Instead, he used contrasting colors to create balanced shadow effects. Today, Monet is one of the most expensive artists in the world. Last November, Le Bassin aux nymphéas, initially estimated at $65 million, was sold at auction for $74 million, and 18 of his paintings have surpassed $30 million at auction. So let us thank Katia Granoff because, even if we cannot (yet) afford a Monet painting, a stroll among the water lilies at the Musée de l’Orangerie is always a delight.