Water Lilies (Chichu)

The Monet gallery at the Chichu Art Museum on Naoshima, designed by Tadao Ando and opened in 2004, houses five of Claude Monet's late large-scale 'Water Lilies' paintings from his Giverny garden series. Sunk almost entirely underground, the room is lit only by natural light filtered through a rooftop aperture and a carefully calibrated white-marble floor; no artificial light, audio guide, or signage is permitted, and visitors must enter in stockinged feet. The strict architectural silence turns the encounter with Monet's late near-abstraction into a near-ritual experience and has become one of the defining museum interiors of the 21st century.

Exhibition Venue

Chichu Art Museum

Naoshima, Japan

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