Asahi Group Oyamazaki Villa Museum of Art and Monet’s Water Lilies

In his later years, Claude Monet suffered from severe cataracts that greatly impaired his vision.
By 1922, doctors reported that he was completely blind in his right eye and had only about 10% vision left in his left.
Even so, Monet never put down his brush. His doctor urged him to undergo surgery, but Monet—who disliked doctors—hesitated for a long time.

During this period, he painted “The Japanese Bridge”.
The bridge over his “Water Garden,” inspired by Japanese design, is depicted with fiery colors and bold, dynamic brushstrokes.

Throughout his career, Monet devoted himself to capturing the effects of light.
As he grew older, his style became increasingly abstract, and in this work, we see him take that even further.
It feels as though we’re witnessing the blurred world Monet himself might have seen—shapes and colors merging like reflections in mist.

The Japanese Bridge shimmers like a vision floating in fog, perhaps mirroring the landscape within Monet’s fading sight and heart.

Monet eventually underwent eye surgery in 1923.
Although his eyesight never fully recovered, he regained enough vision to continue painting.
Until his death in 1926, he remained passionately dedicated to completing the Water Lilies “Grandes Décorations” series.

Did you know that Vincent van Gogh once dreamed of becoming a pastor before he became a painter?
That dream never came true, and at the age of 27 he decided to dedicate his life to art.
During the next ten years, until his death at 37, he produced an astonishing number of works that would change the history of painting.

In his early period, Van Gogh often painted the miners and farmers who lived in poverty at the time.
While staying with his parents in the village of Nuenen, the Netherlands, he quietly and earnestly painted local peasants as his models.

“Peasant Woman at the Window” is a work from this period.
It shows a woman standing by an indoor window, captured in soft backlight.
The contrast of the silhouette, the shadow of the window frame, and the tiny birds outside create a simple yet deeply human atmosphere.

Throughout his life, Van Gogh held a strong desire to touch people’s souls through art.
Even in this early painting, you can feel his sincere gaze as he depicts the farmer with honesty and respect.

During this time, Van Gogh’s palette was very different from his later, colorful works.
He used dark, earthy tones, emphasizing the hardships of rural life.
This period of exploration led to one of his most famous early masterpieces, The Potato Eaters (1885), where his focus on peasant life reached a new depth.

Paul Signac was one of the leading artists of the Neo-Impressionist movement, best known for his use of the pointillist technique—painting entire scenes with countless dots of color.

In his early years, Signac used very fine dots to create delicate effects.
But after 1900, his brushstrokes became larger, bolder, and more dynamic.
“Venice” (1908) is a perfect example of his later style.

The painting’s subject is the City of Water—Venice, Italy.
With the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore in the background, Signac vividly captures yachts sailing along the canal.
The boat on the right, painted in vibrant blues and reds, instantly draws your eye.
Meanwhile, the distant church is rendered in softer, lighter tones, creating a beautiful sense of depth and atmosphere.

The mosaic-like strokes of color shimmer across the canvas, filling the viewer with a sense of brightness and joy.
Yet, beneath the sparkle, Signac also conveys the moist, misty light unique to Venice—a perfect balance of energy and calm.

Paul Klee (1879–1940) was a Swiss-born painter known for his unique style that moves freely between abstraction and figuration.
His use of vibrant colors and geometric patterns deeply influenced German Expressionism, the Bauhaus movement, and even Surrealism.

Klee was also an accomplished musician, and he often said he wanted to “paint like composing music.”
One of his most famous works, To Parnassus (1932), captures this idea beautifully.
The painting “Oriental Cathedral”, created in the same year, explores a similar musical rhythm through form and color.

As its title suggests, Oriental Cathedral depicts a cathedral with a faintly Eastern or Oriental atmosphere.
Yet, the structure is highly abstract—almost as if the rhythm and harmony of music had taken on visible form.
The tiny dots of color and gentle gradations give the work a subtle, lyrical rhythm that is unmistakably Klee.

Interestingly, Klee was also an excellent violinist.
He once said that “art does not reproduce the visible, it makes visible.”
For him, expressing the structure of music through painting was more than an artistic experiment—it was a philosophical pursuit of the invisible world behind sound and form.