Of all Monet's series, the one depicting his water-lily pond in his garden at Giverny in Normandy occupied him for longest and produced the largest number of canvases. In this work, the pink and yellow rays of the setting sun are reflected in the still water, along with the overhanging branches of a weeping willow. Lily pads drift across the water's surface.
Monet still had this painting in his studio in 1923 when he sold it to a dealer with a number of other works. About to undergo a cataract operation, he asked to keep this particular work for a while longer, perhaps in order to look at it, or even work at it with renewed vision.
