In 1922, Monet donated a panoramic series of HUGE water lily paintings to France; and he chose l’Orangerie in the Tuileries Garden to house them. L’Orangerie, tucked in one corner overlooking the place de la Concorde, is a stone and glass building originally conceived as a hothouse to protect potted orange trees in the winter. The paintings were finally put in place there after Monet’s death in 1926.L’Orangerie closed in 2000 for a $36 million renovation (to better present Monet's series) but didn’t reopen for six years because portions of an ancient city wall were found. These once surrounded the old city and had to be preserved. One portion of the ancient wall i
s visible—if my memory serves me correctly, it is on the lower level and around the corner to the left as you descend the stairs.My sister and I were finally able to visit l'Orangerie during our 2006 trip. It is a WOW venue. Besides special exhibits and canvases by Renoir, Matisse, Picasso, Cezanne, etc., Monet’s eight beautiful panels of water lilies are shown in two oval-shaped rooms under skylights that re-create the natural light conditions Monet knew in the 1920s. As your eyes travel from one panel to another, you can see how he painted them in different light—something he did with cathedrals and other scenes in his Giverny gardens as well.
Since I didn't visit the museum on this trip, these are my sister's photos. It was hard to get them focused but this makes sense. Monet was struggling with cataracts at the time and was nearly blind. I wonder if this is how they looked to him. I loved them—there were lines of people waiting to visit the museum every time I walked by.
