Wisteria as a colour takes its name from the flowering vine introduced to Europe from China and Japan in the early 19th century. Monet grew wisteria at Giverny and painted it in his late water garden paintings — the cascading pale purple flowers became part of his visual world in his final years. Japanese fuji (wisteria) is a traditional motif in textile design and painting.

Dreamy, delicate, and romantic. Wisteria is purple filtered through white until it becomes almost ethereal. It carries the quality of the flower — cascading, slightly melancholy in its abundance, beautiful in a way that acknowledges its own transience. Associated with memory, nostalgia, and the romantic past.

Wisteria has become one of the most-photographed flowers on social media — the "wisteria tunnel" at Kawachi Fuji Gardens in Japan generates millions of images annually. Monet's wisteria paintings, made in his last years when his eyesight was failing, are among his most abstract works — the colour dissolves into luminous haze. In Japanese culture, wisteria (fuji) is associated with love, sensuality, and the aristocratic class (the Fujiwara clan took their name from the plant).