"Poppy Field" by Monet
This painting shows Monet at his most relaxed. It is a charming interlude, full of tenderness and grace. He painted it "en plein air" in the plain to the west of Argenteuil, away from the rupples and reflections of the river he loved. His subject is once again Camille, this time sitting on the grass reading. She wears a feathered hat; a respectable woman of theday could not be seen without some form of head-covering, even on a country walk.
The canvas belongs in spirit with "wild poppies," and is redolent of peace and happiness. It recalls the serenity of the Trouville portraits, but here the handling is altogether lighter and more fluid. Durand-Ruel and other collectors sometimes urged Monet to make his canvases look more finished, but he was interested only in a spontaneous rendering of the moment. This scene is painted, as it were, with the tip of the brush, the sky limpid, the trees barely sketched in- reminiscent of Corot- the young woman suggested rather than expressed as an individual human form. It is a typical example of Impressionism at its peak. One recalls Ce'zanne's dictum: 'Monet is just an eyes, but what an eye. He's the best of us all.'
Shown at the second exhibition of the Impressionist group, the painting was put up for auction at the Ho'tel Drouot in March 1875 but failed to find a buyer. Money problems again threatened to plunge Monet in the nightmare of debt which he hoped he had put behind him forever.
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