art break: monet’s water lilies

This week’s art break involved saying a final farewell to Monet’s Water Lilies which unites the three panels of Claude Monet’s water lily triptych owned by Saint Louis Art Museum, The Cleveland Museum of Art and The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

courtesy of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

At last count, over 85,000 people have visted the Nelson-Atkins exhibition, 61,000+ in July alone!

Over 61,000 people visited @nelson_atkins last month & I think I talked to all of them! 🙂 Thanks y'all for coming!

— Adrianne Russell (@adriannerussell) August 3, 2011

Despite the exhaustion that many of us feel at the end of the workday, it is an astonishing thing to witness so many people galvanized and transformed by seeing remarkable works of art in person.  The Museum is filled with visitors of every stripe, and a buzzy hum of activity can be heard throughout the buildings.

buy & print tickets online to bypass this queue

What has been especially satisfying is how the exhibition kick-starts related artistic experiences.  Visitors ask where they can find other Impressionist works in the Collection, how they can learn more about conservation science, if there are any resources available that delve deeper into Monet’s life and work, or for paper and pencils so they can sketch in the galleries.  It’s also inspired my own artistic leanings.

thanks to Tate Kids for the coloring sheets

Monet’s Water Lilies closes at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art on August 7, 2011.  Next stop is the Saint Louis Art Museum from October 2, 2011 – January 22, 2012 and finally wrapping up at The Cleveland Museum of Art in 2015 (exact dates to be announced.)