LEGO ART Monet is ‘very true to the essence of the painting’

Remaining true to its source material was a key driver for the LEGO Art designer behind 31220 Claude Monet – Bridge over a Pond of Water Lilies.

Every LEGO Art fan can now get their hands on 31220 Claude Monet – Bridge over a Pond of Water Lilies, with the set available for all from today. In the accompanying podcast for the model, the set’s designer has peeled back the many layers of the build, revealing its numerous details, biggest challenges and close collaboration with the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

“When I started the development on this, we started with blocking out these big patches of colour then adding in different layers,” said LEGO Designer Stijn Oom. “We have these very smooth vertical lines that [Monet] would paint in for the trees, but mainly especially for the reflection of the water. Then we have pastel shapes and techniques on top of that layer.”

Discussing 31220 Claude Monet – Bridge over a Pond of Water Lilies, Stijn specifically mentions how important colour was in the development of the LEGO Art set, a model that took over a year to create.

“It’s funny because a lot of people will see impressionist paintings as a wealth of colour and Monet was really painting with light,” noted the LEGO Designer, “We have a new colour, which is exciting, used in some of the vertical brush strikes. It’s blue violet and it works perfectly for some of the colours snuck in the reflection of the willow and the poplars.

“We really tried to get [the painting’s] diagonal-like streak of light coming in from the top and hitting the bridge. You’ll see this when building is that on the top of the bridge, we also showcase highlights of light coming and just drooping down.”

That same selective choice of which colours to use in 31220 Claude Monet – Bridge over a Pond of Water Lilies also provided the LEGO Art design team with their biggest hurdle to overcome.

“What was a really exciting challenge was to work with all the different colours we have,” Stijn added. “Monet had the opportunity to mix all of his colours. He could create an infinite amount of different shades and hues and we don’t have that. We had to select the colours in our palette and create something that is very true to the essence of the actual painting, and I think we got really close.”

Visitors to the Metropolitan Museum of Art can also get up and close with a near life-size brick-built version of Monet’s masterpiece. The Met Store is currently hosting a 60,000-piece recreation of the iconic painting, one that was assembled by artist Nathan Sawaya and should make for the perfect selfie moment.

31220 Claude Monet – Bridge over a Pond of Water Lilies can be purchased right now, with the 3,179-piece LEGO Art set priced at £179.99 / $249.99 / €199.99.

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