LEGO Art Claude Monet's Water Lilies announced!
Posted by CapnRex101,
LEGO Art is gradually working its way through the world's most celebrated artists and Claude Monet joins the range this year, with one of his Water Lilies paintings. The press release follows:
31220 Claude Monet - Bridge Over a Pond of Water Lilies
Rated 18+, 3,179 pieces
$249.99 / £179.99 / €199.99
Available at LEGO.com from 1st March
Build a Monet Masterpiece: the LEGO Group Reveals the LEGO Art Claude Monet – Bridge over a Pond of Water Lilies.
Today, the LEGO Group, in collaboration with The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, announces the new LEGO Art Claude Monet – Bridge over a Pond of Water Lilies (31220). This set invites builders to reimagine one of Monet’s most iconic works, originally painted in 1899 and now a highlight of The Met’s collection, as a stunning brick-built masterpiece.
This 3,179-piece LEGO Art set pays tribute to Claude Monet’s masterful brushwork and his profound love of nature, capturing the true essence of the artist’s garden in Giverny, France. The stunning set uses a diverse array of LEGO elements including butterflies, flowers and fruit, to reflect Monet’s love of the natural world. Verdant textured trees, the bridge, and the iconic water lilies of Monet’s original masterpiece are translated into LEGO bricks. The result is a bold reimagining of his work, complete with a built-in wall hanger for easy display in any home.
New imagery captured at The Metropolitan Museum of Art juxtaposes the LEGO set with the original 1899 oil painting. In addition to experiencing Monet’s painting in person, visitors to the Museum will have the unique opportunity to get “inside” the work by posing behind the bridge in a larger-than-life scale LEGO brick reproduction of the painting, on display in The Met Store for a limited time, starting 1 March.
Additional photography captured in Monet’s garden at Giverny showcases the LEGO Bridge Over a Pond of Water Lilies set within the landscape that inspired Monet’s creation, allowing fans a new view into the creative world of the renowned artist.
“Translating Monet’s brushstrokes into LEGO bricks was a key design challenge,” says Stijn Oom, LEGO Designer. “The team meticulously created a tactile 3D surface by layering tiles and plates in both vertical and horizontal directions, mimicking the brushwork and carefully adapting Monet's subtle palette of hues within LEGO’s signature colour options. Reimagining the nuance of the original work in LEGO bricks required certain elements of the work to be abstracted, all while preserving essential details of the composition to evoke Monet’s signature artistic style. The build transforms with viewing distance: individual pixels and textures are visible up close, resolving into a peaceful Impressionist landscape from afar, mirroring the nature of Monet’s later works."
Builders will discover evocative details within the set. Some plates within the ‘water’ feature subtle colour variations, hinting at Monet’s lively, layered strokes of paint. In the central section, a diagonal stroke of light – prominent in the original painting as it cuts across the trees – has been carefully recreated in the LEGO model with lighter elements running from the top right to the bottom left. The bridge itself, the true focal point of Monet’s composition, anchors the scene, its lines guiding the eye across the expanse of the pond. A gentle asymmetry, with more lilies on the right than on the left, references Monet’s embrace of nature’s irregularities. As the designers playfully noted, “the mistakes make it right,” a philosophy inspired by Monet’s fearless departure from artistic tradition and creation of his own, unique Impressionist style.
Enhancing the building journey, from 1 March 2026, builders can listen to an exclusive podcast featuring Metropolitan Museum of Art curator, Alison Hokanson, delving into Monet’s inspiration and artistry. The set also offers an immersive experience through the LEGO Builder app, featuring 3D instructions.
The LEGO Art Claude Monet – Bridge over a Pond of Water Lilies (31220) will be available for LEGO Insiders Early Access from 1st March 2026, and for all from 4th March 2026, priced at £179.99 / €199.99 / $249.99.
What do you think of this rendition of the famous Water Lilies? Let us know in the comments.
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50 comments on this article
This is an amazing model that I would absolutely hate to build
That does not look like a fun build to me.
Oooh, I’m always a bit of a sucker for Impressionists, Monet in particular. This looks gorgeous, the bricks really work for replicating Monet’s very textured style
It is the first Battle Pack of Bars.
I do kinda like the look of it, but it looks indeed like an absolute pain to build. No thanks.
Is that a new frog I see? Light yellow? Big year for frog collectors if so, first black and now this.
'Just because you can doesn't mean you should' is unfortunately the phrase that comes to mind with me for these art and most wildlife sets.
Brilliantly put together, but just not for me
Not bad, but I wouldn't pay more than half that price!
Based on the product photos, analysing this as a tribute to the original artwork: 10/10
Analysing it as a representation of a bridge over a pond of water lilies: I'm glad that Monet existed to do the heavy lifting
In my opinion, Lego doesn't really suit this style of art very well. Each part just looks like a completely separate piece to me and it doesn't blend into a scene very well until you zoom REALLY far out.
It's quite cool because just as Monet's water lilies is a mass of coloured splotches and flecks that give the impression of water lilies, the Lego version is a mass of coloured plastic pieces that give the impression of Monet's water lilies. Neither is an exact reproduction of the subject, nor are they supposed to be.
I really like this, but like the Ford it probably doesn't count as a birthday gift if its not available until that day, annoyingly.
Maybe a belated one, like the card my my paternal uncle and family send, annually.
Another Christmas list set. I don't think my wallet will be happy either way.
Its got some interesting building techniques, but its not for me. Also, compared to the proper painting, somehow they've made a 3D medium make it look really flat and lifeless to my eye.
Landscaping parts incoming!
@vizzitor said:
"In my opinion, Lego doesn't really suit this style of art very well. Each part just looks like a completely separate piece to me and it doesn't blend into a scene very well until you zoom REALLY far out."
This. I love Starry Night because it's so great at all scales, but this is very much a remote viewer.
That does not look like a fun build at all.
On first sight... oh wow... oh, er, hmmm, not sure... (pulls face) hmmm, still not sure... £180... eek not at that price. And yeah, as mentioned above, doesn't look like an enjoyable build. I'll buy a waterlillies jigsaw for a fraction of the price.
This is another fun looking layering build like The Milky Way galaxy.
Fun use of parts, recolors, I dig it!
But putting this on display, the dust....ughhh, will be a nightmare to clean unless you put this in a case. So the price for this goes up if you want to display it properly.
Obviously dust is a pain on any model, but this, the Milky Way, Batman's Gotham City skyline, etc. won't look good over time without it in a case.
The uniformity of the bars just doesn't look right.
So many great parts, can't wait to pick some of them up on PAB.
@King_J said:
"Is that a new frog I see? Light yellow? Big year for frog collectors if so, first black and now this."
Yup, but the green one came with the Tiana CMF. Other recolors include oval shields, paint palettes, (2) cow horns, cherries, and butterflies, I believe.
This looks good at a distance. And I'm sure the design is a triumph for the designers.
But the texture is legitimately giving me anxiety. It's so busy it reminds me of bad fever dreams where everything is to much to process and all coming at you at once. And to top it off, I can feel the pain from needing to build all that just by looking at it. It's so overwhelming.
You know, I'd say even at a distance actually. The larger 'splotches' remind me too much of the smaller details and they actually draw my eye to the carpets of 'hairs', of 'sticks', leaves, rounded tiles and flowers.
Again, all respect to the designer for making this but I feel tired from just looking at it.
EDIT: And when I look at the source material, I don't feel the above. I think it's because the medium of lego exaggerates the individual 'strokes' and because I can barely make out what's going on in this version. To be honest, the water effect in particular wasn't something I even recognised as such when I first saw this. The actual painting is made with very subtle strokes that stand out but still blend together well. With lego it will always be cruder unless you vastly increase the scale.
So it's an admirable effort, but I think it might not really be possible to recreate the painting like this at this scale.
I guess these must sell for them to keep making them. But I find this one particularly tacky.
Looks great, but I think some reward points will need to be earned first in order to generate a bit of discount.
@gsmayes said:
"The uniformity of the bars just doesn't look right. "
I know what you mean. It's more of a look at distance, blend, blur the eye to get the whole piece.
I like to look at theses kits as therapeutic to people of any age to build, also for kids, young adults into Lego to get it as a gift then parent can show the real painting and talk about the artist, the style, etc.
Hoping it'll spark more interest in painting, the arts in general.
I have to be honest. Compared to the Starry Night or Hokusai, both of which I have, this just doesn't look good to me, from any angle or distance.
Then again I don't find the original painting very attractive either. I'm more of a John Constable kind of guy.
Easy pass.
Finally a great price gap US and Europe!!
Does it look like a real Monet? No. Does it look like a LEGO interpretation of a Monet (impressionist impressionism?) ? Very much so. All in all I'd say they did a pretty good job with it!
Very pretty but too expensive for me to consider it.
We've been looking to add some Lego art to our living areas, and picked a few up already, but this one's giving me a headache just thinking about building it. So it might be a pass for us. Looks pretty from a distance, but I think the closer you get the harder it is to look at.
But why there isn’t a Claude Monet figure to go along with it?
looks good but it's pretty big and not sure I like it enough to give up that much wall space for it
Lego should make one... Wait that is Lego
@Brickodillo said:
"But why there isn’t a Claude Monet figure to go along with it?
"
I don't think the paintings usually come with minifigs. The Starry Night only did because it was an Ideas set.
That looks like a very long and tedious build to me.
I like it, but I think the build experience will be terrible. There are so many clips and bars to align!
For the purpose of answering the poll, I had a difficult time deciding between "No, but I like it" and "No, it doesn't interest me," since I do like it, but I'm not interested in the experience. I went with "No, it doesn't interest me." That said, I don't think it's worth adding a "No, I like it but my finger tips are aching, just looking at the thing" or a "No, I like it, but but it looks like it would be no fun to build" option to the poll. :-)
I love it. Klimt next?
Not his earlier works. They just weren't as good as the ones from his Vienna Secession period.
Just because his peers didn't believe it could ever happen, doesn't mean Klimt-change wasn't real.
@SmilingCyclops said:
" @Brickodillo said:
"But why there isn’t a Claude Monet figure to go along with it?
"
I don't think the paintings usually come with minifigs. The Starry Night only did because it was an Ideas set."
Ah too bad. Now i need to wait for a cmf famous painters series :-(
The only LEGO Art subject I'd be likely to get would be Munch's "The Scream". That seems fairly inevitable, though, so I look forward to it.
This is a beautiful set. It is very much impressionist, as it should be for Monet! Not sure if I will buy it for the price but it definitely is on my list of may buy someday. The effect with the bars is just stunning and really makes it feel like the original painting
Now this is gorgeous.
Ceci n'est pas art.
It looks awful, maybe an impresionist piece is not the best option to recreate with Lego bricks. It hardly resembles the original art work.
I think they did a really good job on what they could within LEGO confines. I won't be getting it because it is too expensive, but I like the effort and the idea.
I’m not so impressed by this one.
I thought I would like it, but I don’t.
And I generally like impressionist paintings.
I’m sure there will be people that love it, so I’m happy for them.
I love Monet and was really looking forward to getting one more Lego painting (I already own Van Gogh's Starry Night and Hokusai's Great Wave). But I must say I am quite disappointed by how this set looks… not to mention that it is way too expensive. Sad pass for me :-(
Why don't Lego do artpieces of their own themes and sets. I would love a Lego city artpiece depicting a city syline and construction machinery building the city.
They could do castle, space, western, etc... art pieces on a micro scale and even branch off into licensed if allowed e.g. star wars artworks, marvel, could have different star wars planets landscapes as artwork or different planet biomes on our earth.
@Brickalili said:
"Oooh, I’m always a bit of a sucker for Impressionists, Monet in particular. This looks gorgeous, the bricks really work for replicating Monet’s very textured style "
I'm quite fond of the Impressionists as well, and this may be my favorite Art set yet.
Another day another bunch of weird overpriced sets. ::yawn::
@Troncity1 said:
"Why don't Lego do artpieces of their own themes and sets. I would love a Lego city artpiece depicting a city syline and construction machinery building the city.
They could do castle, space, western, etc... art pieces on a micro scale and even branch off into licensed if allowed e.g. star wars artworks, marvel, could have different star wars planets landscapes as artwork or different planet biomes on our earth. "
I'm all for classic Lego themes, but given the choice between a brick-built art piece depicting a classic theme and an actual playset in that theme, I think most Lego buyers would generally opt for the latter. I think the idea only really has legs if you're dealing with a scene or setting so big that it'd be unlikely to work as well at a normal scale (in terms of licensed stuff, they kind of did something similar to what you're proposing with the Batman the Animated Series skyline set, and you could probably do the same with a theme like Star Wars provided you're focusing on a scene/location with enough going on to make it interesting). But with traditional Lego themes that were designed at a normal set scale anyway, I'm not sure there's that many subjects that'd necessarily work better in a reduced two-dimensional format.