By Lindsay Cusworth
Upon entering the Museum of Art''s new 'Paths to Impressionism' exhibit, one painting is bound to catch the eye of a visitor.
The painting glistens under lights in the center of the exhibit while offering admirers a shimmering view of a sky reflecting onto a pond filled with water lilies. The painting depicts a sense of movement and natural flow.
This piece may sound familiar to you. In fact, it should. It is a world famous painting created by Claude Monet as part of his water lilies series.
Monet spent 30 years perfecting his vision for his water lily paintings. During this process he possibly destroyed more than 500 pieces that he felt were worthless.
Monet worked on different paintings at different times of the day in order to achieve different shades of light. Only a handful of water lily pieces satisfied Monet''s vision and today there is one on loan at BYU.
'This is probably the first time a Monet water lilies piece has been shown here in Utah,' said Christopher Wilson, marketing and communications manager at the MOA.
The museum has been overwhelmed with the crowds who have come to see the 'Beholding Salvation' exhibit and expect even more crowds to visit 'Paths to Impressionism.' The Monet piece is considered the prize of the show and many are looking forward to seeing the painting.
'There will be people who come just to say they have seen it,' Wilson said.
This particular painting was first exhibited to the public in 1909, at the height of the Impressionist period of art. Later it was purchased by the Worcester Art Museum, making it the first Monet painting purchased by an American museum.
'If you step back, your eyes will mix the shades,' said Paul Anderson, curator for the exhibition. 'Up close you can see the horizontal strokes. When you step back you see the water shimmering. Monet really manages to make a wonderful picture out of it.'
Anderson explained that there were floods of thousands of Americans who went to study in Paris just to capture the same effect that Monet was expressing in all of his paintings.
In fact, in 1891 the LDS church sent five artists on a mission to study in Paris in hopes for them to gain artistic experience. The artists returned after their studies and ended up painting the murals for the Salt Lake temple.
'Monet is the father of Impressionism,' said Ruth Andrews, from San Diego, majoring in art history. ' If anyone has an understanding about how he influences art and style, then they would come see the show. This is a chance of a lifetime.'