Between LEGO® Art and Ideas, we seen several iconic pieces of art replicated with LEGO bricks. The latest heads to French Impressionist, Claude Monet’s garden, which was the inspiration for a series of paintings collectively known as Water Lilies. This features around 250 paintings. But the focus of this set is the 1899 painting ‘Bridge over the Lily Pond’, which is housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Here’s a closer look at the upcoming Monet LEGO Art set.
Product Details
Set Name: Claude Monet – Bridge over a Pond of Water Lilies | Set Number: 31220 | Pieces: 2842 | Theme: Editions
Instructions: Paper booklet + Builder App | Sticker: n/a | Minifigures: n/a
RRP: £179.99/199.99€/$249.99/299.99AUD/349.99CAD
Availability: LEGO Stores, LEGO Online & LEGO retailers from March 1st (Insiders), March 4th (General)
Beyond painting, Monet’s passion was his garden. He spent many years cultivating his plot of land in Giverny which a great focus on a Japanese-style pond. This quaint slice of France would inspire many of Monet’s most famous pieces of art. Monet primarily used oils, which gave his paintings a textured finish. Something which has been interestingly recreated with the use of various LEGO pieces.
When the LEGO Art sets made the switch from mosaic-style builds to more varied creations, the thicker baseplates were dropped in favour of standard plates. Several of these are used here to create the ‘canvas’ of the painting. But the building begins with the frame. Once complete, this neatly slots over the finished ‘painting’ and is held in place by several Technic axles. It’s a tried and tested formula for LEGO Art sets, and the frame complements the image it surrounds. It also includes a Technic hook so the set can be mounted on a wall. Despite the use of thinner baseplates, the overall set is still quite heavy, so care should be taken on where and how you hang it on a wall.
The rest of the set is focused on Monet’s famous artwork. This uses a lot of small elements in a variety of colours. At times, it can be tedious and slightly awkward to place so many small pieces; however, you cannot fault the finish they give. The layering of elements does an extremely impressive job of aping the unique texture oil paintings have. The palette of colours also results in a vibrant LEGO creation. The set also includes plenty of recoloured pieces and some fun NPU. Frogs, lily pads, swords and bananas are used to capture Monet’s paint style. The LEGO version of his work is certainly more colourful than the original, but comparing the two, you can see the similarities.
The set’s instructions include a little background on Monet and his painting, but you can also listen to a companion podcast. Dr Alison Hokanson from The Met joins the set’s designer, Stijn Oom, to discuss Monet and his work. This was provided to me in video form, but can also be listened to as you would a podcast. It’s an interesting expansion of the build experience.
The LEGO Art sets may not be to everyone’s taste, and this set’s high price is another obstacle for many. I can also understand the increasing frustration from some LEGO fans about the influx of adult-focused, high-priced, display-focused LEGO sets. But it is a nice-looking set. Despite the large number of small elements and the time-consuming build experience, the finished creation looks pretty cool. It will certainly look great next to some of the other Art sets, such as the Mona Lisa and Van Gogh’s Sunflowers. Monet’s Bridge over a Pond of Water Lilies launches on March 4th, but Insiders can purchase the set through Early Access from March 1st.
The LEGO Group provided this set to BricksFanz.com for review purposes. The thoughts in this review are those of BricksFanz.com and do not reflect those of the LEGO Group. Providing the set for free does not guarantee a favourable opinion of it
