Monet's Water Lillies and the Great War

The Musée de l'Orangerie (inset) is housed in the former orangery of the Tuileries Gardens built in 1852. In two specially designed rooms the museum houses Impressionist painter Claude Monet's "Les Nymphéas," a series of eight murals from his water lilies series. The paintings were donated to France by the artist at the end of the war; at time of the Armistice he wrote his friend Georges Clemenceau: "I am on the eve of finishing two decorative panels that I would like to sign and date with Victory Day, and I write to ask you to present them to the State on my behalf. It is a little thing, but it is the only way that I can take part in the general joy."

Luncheon Party at Giverny: Blanche and Claude Monet, Georges Clemenceau, and Guests