Monet without the money

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I have no idea what the value of a Claude Monet (1840–1926) painting might be, although I do know they are worth millions of dollars. Monet painted about 250 canvases in the Nymphéas (Water Lilies) series: in mid 2010 the 1906 Nymphéas was estimated at £30m to £40m ($48.360m to $64.48m) and was bid to £29millions ($46.75m) without selling. This passeth all understanding for ordinary folk, but at least we can understand the artist's obsession. First of all the subjects were close to hand; they were visually attractive; they were always changing in the light and weather at Monet's garden in Giverny, Normandy, France. The second Wikipedia link has over thirty examples of the lily paintings available to view.

I take photographs of the same subjects over and over: many of them appear here, but there are many, many more that do not. They are not art, but they give me much pleasure. I would be interested to know if Monet painted for himself or to please his buyers. His range was much wider than the lilies for which he is most widely known—the first Wikipedia link has over fifty examples available to view—and he was commercially successful. Perhaps he was lucky enough to please himself and his buyers.

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