In the manner of Claude Monet
French, 1840–1926
The Car Wash, 2026
Oil on canvas
66 × 99 cm
Never painted.
Commissioned for the collection, 2026.
PAB 2026.8.4
A car comes at us head-on through a curtain of soapy water, its headlights two warm smudges, while the brushes spin red and green on either side. The car dissolves into foam, which is what Monet did to the front of Rouen Cathedral: he let the light eat the stone. Here the light has help from a jet wash. Seven minutes, the whole cycle, and a new painting every time.
The brief
A car seen through a curtain of soapy water and spinning brushes, colour dissolving in foam and light. French Impressionist oil painting, broken dabs of pure colour, no black, forms suggested by shimmering light rather than line, lavender shadows, pinks and greens vibrating together, reflections on water, plein-air freshness, thick short brushstrokes, canvas weave visible at the edges. Museum photograph of the oil painting, soft even gallery lighting, no frame, no text, no wall, no floor, cropped to the canvas edge.
Written to the house rules. The painter's name does not appear.
Take it home
The painting on this room's wall, at its own proportions, nothing written on it.
