Blog @ the Nelson-Atkins

During the examination, Schafer studied each part of the painting to answer questions about its construction. In what order did Monet apply his colors? What brushes did he favor? What was the consistency and texture of the oil paint? Perhaps most intriguing, how did the composition change as he painted? Some of these findings will be shared in a series of posts, beginning with artist changes and x-radiography.

Monet painted Water Lilies over a ten year period, between 1916 and 1926, and made significant changes as he developed the composition. Simon Kelly, Associate Curator of European Painting and Sculpture, identified several artist changes by comparing the Nelson-Atkins panel to the artist’s studies as well as early studio photographs.

X-radiography was also used to see water lilies that Monet painted out as the composition progressed. With this examination technique, x-rays pass through the painting and expose film placed on the canvas reverse. Dense pigments block x-rays from reaching the film and produce light areas on the processed film.

The black and white x-radiograph (above) shows a beautiful lily pad and bloom that Monet eventually covered with green paint (below). Comparisons between the earlier water lilies and the final composition reveal a dramatic change in the way Monet painted; the lily pads shift from distinct oval masses to the loosely painted, abstracted forms that we appreciate today.

Monet’s painting process will be featured in an upcoming exhibition, Monet’s Water Lilies, which will reunite all three panels of Monet’s triptych, made up of the Nelson-Atkins panel and those in the St. Louis Museum of Art and Cleveland Museum of Art. The triptych has not been assembled in over thirty years and so the exhibition is a rare opportunity to see Monet’s entire composition.

Mark your calendars for April 2011!