Irises

Museum record 4887: Irises by Claude Monet. A verified entry point for discovery.

What to notice

For Irises (record 4887), start with modern, expressive, atmospheric. Compare the focal subject, edge treatment, and atmosphere before moving on.

Discover

Approximately six and a half feet square, Irises is one of a series of large paintings Claude Monet undertook during World War I experimenting with familiar motifs on an ever-expanding scale. Lacking a discernible horizon or clear sense of depth, the viewer is both on top of and submerged in this encrusted and disorienting surface, suggestive of water, on which various vegetal and floral forms float. Together with other related canvases, this work remained in the artist’s Giverny studio long after his de…