Known as Agapanthus Triptych, although the agapanthus was painted out during his revisions, all 3 panels of Claude Monet's Water Lilies were on display at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City for the first time in over 30 years.
For 11 years Monet was entranced by the water lilies growing in his Giverny, France, water garden. So captivated by the colors, he painted 41 large canvases in a studio built in the garden. At Monet's death in 1926, 22 of the water lily paintings were donated to the Orangerie Museum in Paris as his gift to the French people. The others stayed in the studio until his son, Michael, put them on the market in the 1950's. The Nelson-Atkins purchased the 14 foot right hand panel in 1957. The 2 others of the Triptych went to the Cleveland (left panel, 1960) and St. Louis (center panel, 1956) Museums of Art. The 3 works were first reunited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in 1978.
The Nelson's Water Lilies panel is one of 4 Monet works in its collection.
(Monet hired 6 gardeners to take care of the water garden, including one to "dust" the lily pads every day.)
