Iconic painter Claude Monet created ~250 compositions of the water lilies in his garden in Giverny, France before he died in 1926. Out of all those works, one particular piece hung in the dining room of his son, Michel Monet, for over 35 years — eventually, in 1959, it made its way to the Portland Art Museum’s (PAM) Impressionist collection.
Since then, “Water Lilies” has lost a bit of its original magic, but thanks to a grant from the Bank of America Art Conservation Project, holistic conservation to restore the painting to its intended appearance — soft, subtle colors with varying texture and luminosity — can move forward. PAM conservator Charlotte Ameringer is leading the complicated effort to remove a synthetic varnish that saturates the paint films, imparting a flat surface gloss.
Typically, this type of work is conducted behind-the-scenes, but the community is invited to follow the process over the next eight months via social media.
Expect the painting to return to public view, alongside a transformed campus, in late 2025.
