Still Waters

Leaf 152 – Art Inspired

 

Claude Monet - Bridge over a Pond of Water Lilies (1899) The Met

There is perhaps little-known connection between this famous painting and Japan. It’s a relatively recent connection, which can be found in the grounds of an art gallery in Atami on the Izu peninsula, not far from Tokyo, where there is a pond which contains lilies and lily pads brought from Monet’s garden in France.

 

 

Leap-frogging lily pads,

like leafy stepping stones 

– painted and real.

Bulrushes standing tall

like paintbrushes in a jar,

their bristles daubed

with the bright colours

of perched dragonflies.

Spanning space and time,

a simple wooden arch

reflected in still waters.

 

 

Reiji Hiramatsu - Monet's Pond (date unknown)

Tim Chamberlain - MOA Museum Garden, Atami, Japan (2005)