To mark the presentation of Water Lilies, on view until September 27, 2026 at the MuMa – Musée d'art moderne André Malraux in Le Havre, curated by Philippe Platel and Géraldine Lefebvre, Ai Weiwei looks back on his artistic approach in a video produced as part of the Impressions d'artistes.
A major figure in international contemporary art, Ai Weiwei has been developing a politically engaged body of work for several decades, exploring notions of memory, history, heritage, and freedom. Through a variety of media (sculpture, installation, photography, architecture, and film), he revisits cultural references and everyday materials to offer a critical perspective on the contemporary world.
With Water Lilies, the artist revisits Claude Monet's iconic Water Lilies through two monumental works, each fifteen meters long and composed of 650,000 LEGO® bricks. Presented for the first time in France, these installations offer a contemporary interpretation of one of the most famous masterpieces in art history, where the language of pixels replaces the impressionistic touch while retaining the evocative power of the landscape.
Presented alongside the Monet exhibition in Le Havre, dedicated to the painter's formative years, these works create a dialogue between Monet's Impressionist legacy and Ai Weiwei's unique perspective. They also pay homage to the artist's father, the poet Ai Qing, whose time in Paris and discovery of Impressionism profoundly influenced his development. Between personal memory, collective history, and a dialogue of cultures, the two monumental Water Lilies resonate with the destiny of the Ai family alongside that of Claude Monet.
In this video, Ai Weiwei discusses the genesis of Water Lilies and shares his thoughts on the links between art history, memory, and contemporary creation. He explores how this work reinterprets Monet's legacy while opening a dialogue between eras, cultures, and personal narratives.
