Roy Lichtenstein's series “Water Lilies” is an homage to Claude Monet's famous Impressionist series “Nymphéas,” which is characterized by a magical allure and iridescent chromatic depth that captivates viewers around the world up to this day. In his garden at Giverny, Monet created over 250 paintings of water lilies that explored the subtle effects of light on water. In his response to these magnificent creations of Impressionist painting, Lichtenstein abstracts Monet's water lilies into their most basic pictorial elements: the organic forms are represented by linear contours and clear color fields. In the series, which consists of six different motifs, Lichtenstein highlights his unique ability to translate significant motifs from art history into the style of pop art and incorporate them into his distinctive visual language. As early as the 1960s, he had already referenced the serial works by the famous Impressionist in his series “Cathedrals” and “Haystacks”. Using the serigraphy technique, he brought them into the postmodern era and expanded on Monet's artistic approach. In “Water Lilies,” he builds on this by replacing Monet's Impressionist impasto style with reduced and compact forms and clearly outlined color fields. This series also marks a pinnacle in Lichtenstein's longtime exploration of reflections, which has its roots in early his Pop Art works, intensified in his "Mirror Series," and reached a new dimension in the "Water Lilies." Using stainless steel, a material with a surface so smooth and reflective that it constantly changes light and color, the work is perceived as dynamic depending on the viewing angle, an effect reminiscent of Monet's painterly experiments with light and water. He creates movement without illusion through a combination of lines, dots, and color surfaces borrowed from the pictorial language of advertising and comics. He translates Monet's flowing impression into precise forms while remaining true to the poetic idea of transience. The fascinating paradox of Lichtenstein's work lies in the combination of natural themes and industrial materials. Colors and shapes printed on stainless steel radiate a coolness and precision that counteract Monet's vibrant, impasto coloring. However, this tension between nature and industry makes Lichtenstein's “Water Lilies” appealing. His later works, particularly the water lilies, are documents of the artist's intensive engagement with the transience and fleeting nature of light, nature, and art; in doing so, he subtly reflects on his work. [KT]