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Claude Monet’s The Water-Lily Pond will be on display to the public at York Art Gallery from tomorrow (Friday, May 10) until Sunday, September 8.
Monet was one of the founders of the Impressionist movement, developed in France during the 19th century when painters would work outdoors rather than in a studio.
The Water-Lily Pond – completed in 1899 – is of Monet’s water garden in Giverny, France, which became his main obsession during his later career.
He enlarged the existing pond, filling it with exotic new hybrid water lilies, and built a bridge at one end inspired by examples seen in Japanese prints.
Dr Beatrice Bertram, senior curator at York Art Gallery, said the gallery was “delighted” to be hosting the “beautiful and much-loved painting” which was previously housed at the National Gallery in London.
“Not everybody can get on a train and go to London. The fact that people in York can come and stand next to this painting – and it’s also accessible to people – is so exciting,” she told The Press.
Members of the public can go up close to the iconic artwork and admire it for themselves.
“I hope it will have a really lasting impact on the gallery and the people here,” Dr Bertram added. “It’s really important for people to come and see it.”
The painting – which can be viewed for the art gallery’s standard £7 ticket price – forms the centrepiece of an exhibition with other impressionist works, including a new commission by contemporary artist Michaela Yearwood-Dan.
Monet’s inspiration is even felt outside the gallery with a wildflower meadow planted in its nearby garden and audiences encouraged to take part in open-air sketching.
The Water-Lily Pond is in York as part of the National Treasures programme to celebrate the 200th year of the National Gallery.
Twelve of the gallery’s partners will host a masterpiece from its collection to celebrate the occasion.
The aim is that 35 million people – more than half of the UK population – will be within an hour’s journey of a National Gallery masterpiece.
Alexandra Kavanagh, head of national touring exhibitions at the National Gallery, said the gallery was “thrilled” to be sharing 12 of its “greatest masterpieces with museums across the UK”, adding: “We’re delighted to be working with such a dynamic partner with a brilliant collection of their own in York Art Gallery.
“The new contexts in which visitors will get to see ‘The Water-Lily Pond’, thanks to contemporary response and the context of a museum garden, is exactly what we hoped National Treasures would help to spark as a programme.”
Visit York Art Gallery’s website for more information about the exhibition.
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