One Thousand Drones and Colored Fireworks Paint Monet’s Gardens Across the Daytime Sky

Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang marked the centenary of Claude Monet’s passing by presenting “Radiance of Spring”, a stunning daytime show of 1,000 drones and colorful fireworks painting Monet’s gardens in the sky above the River Seine in the Normandy town of Vernon, France.

Impressions of Claude Monet’s paintings emerged and dissolved above the river: Haystacks, Woman with a Parasol, Poppy Field. Across these transformations, the sky became a living canvas, where colour behaved like time itself — expanding, fading, and recomposing perception in real time.

This performance was captured in a video directed by Shanshan Xia and produced by 33 Studio. The pyrotechnics were designed by Groupe F.

Cai’s 2011 ‘Black Ceremony’ and 2015 ‘Sky Ladder’