Heather Grovemiller
English 142
11 September 2003

Claude Monet

In Claude Monet’s “The Poppy Field,” Monet’s characteristic love for the bold, scattered colors of wild flowers is evidenced by his somewhat nondescript yet passionate portrayal of a small boy in a field of poppies.  Upon first look at the painting, the eye is drawn to the boy who seems to be waving to a friend or perhaps the artist.  Like the rest of the painting, he is blurred and ill-defined, yet even though there is little detail, the overall picture is somehow still clear.  The two large pine trees to the left appear to be gently stirring in a subtle breeze.  Large white, airy clouds roll by, silhouetted by the clear blue sky.  In the distance, two more figures can be spotted on the edge of the poppy field.  Perhaps a forest lies beyond the field, stretching on until it meets the sky and forms the horizon.  The field itself is ablaze with the red-orange, lavender, salmon, and violet shades of the poppies, all blending seamlessly to capture the essence of the flowers growing in the wild.

The style of the piece is congruent with the rest of Monet’s works, all of which take a form that is strikingly like a rough sketch.  In fact, many other artists painted similar works to Monet to use as guides for later realist art.  Monet was the first of what are known as the impressionists, and is arguably the most famous.  His art centers not on detail, like so many of his contemporaries, but on depicting the passion and emotion that overwhelms us as we gaze upon the scene. Monet always captures the spontaneity of the moment because his pieces are done quickly on the spot.  His works are brazen and vivid in their color, blending from one shade to another, encompassing almost every color imaginable, especially when his focus is on flowers.  When people are in his paintings, they are almost always stoic, but their placidity is balanced by the brilliance of hundreds of radiant flowers.

This spirit of this painting is uniquely Monet - it comes off as mostly lighthearted, but with a bit of solemnity.  The scene is whimsical in that, while the setting and people are realistic, it seems that it takes place somewhere far away.  It is a mirthful portrayal of a midsummer’s day, with just a touch of seriousness projected by the faceless character of the boy.  The whole illustration is brought together through Monet’s excellent use of light sources.  One has the distinct feeling that as the clouds gently roll by, the sunlight will move quickly but fluidly from the back of the plains to the foreground, illuminating each flower briefly yet brilliantly along its way.

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