In 1883 painter Claude Monet first rented a house in the French town of Giverny. After purchasing the property and adjoining land, the artist transformed an existing small pond into a water garden with water lilies and a Japanese-style bridge from which he could observe the water and the flowers. From 1899 to 1926, Monet painted more than 250 scenes devoted to the water lily theme, which became what he himself called “an obsession.”
Through a dialogue between Claude Monet and his old friend, stateman George Clemenceau, this contemplative VR experience invites the user on a sensory journey starting off in Claude Monet’s garden, stopping along the way at the workshop of the artist and ending in the exhibition rooms of the Orangerie Museum. The user is given the opportunity to relive a perpetual renewal of nature, to explore time and space while immersed in the Water lilies paintings.

This experience is the first episode of the Arte Trips collection, an immersive series in major works of art, co-produced by ARTE.

The VR experience, ‘Claude Monet – The Water Lily obsession’ has been shown for four months at the Orangerie Museum and has won the Vive Developer Award for the Best Arts & Culture Experience, a Silver Muse Award at the American Alliance of Mueums 2019, a special mention from the jury at the ARTFIFA 2019 and the Grand Prix PiXii at the Sunny Side of the Doc 2019.

A VR experience directed by Nicolas Thépot
Original music: George Lepauw (International Beethoven project)
English actors: Geoffrey Bateman (Claude Monet), Peter Hudson (Georges Clémenceau)
Executive producer: Chloé Jarry
Production manager: Alessandra Bogi
Graphic creation & development: Hugo Arcier, Studio N°130
Sound design: Thomas Couchard, NOVELAB
Coproducers: ARTE France, Lucid Realities, Camera lucida productions, Musées d’Orsay Et de L’Orangerie, Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion
With the support of CNC – Fonds Nouveaux Médias, Fonds Transmédia de la Ville de Paris
Distribution: Lucid Realities