The artwork “Poplars” is a quintessential example of Impressionism, painted by the movement’s forefront artist Claude Monet in 1891. The genre of the piece is landscape and encapsulates the essence of Impressionist practice through its expressive brushwork, light, and depiction of natural scenery.
This particular artwork reveals a series of tall poplar trees stretching upwards, dominating the composition. Monet has captured the fleeting effects of light and atmosphere, rendering the foliage with dappled strokes of greens, yellows, and blues that convey the movement of leaves in the breeze. The sky, an airy backdrop composed of soft blues and whites, suggests the transience of the moment. Below, the tranquil water provides a reflective surface, mirroring the poplars and hints of the vegetation along the bank. This reflection is rendered with a symphony of brushstrokes that blur and blend the colors, suggesting the gentle motion of water. Overall, Monet’s work is an exploration of color and light, and “Poplars” is no exception, evoking the ephemeral beauty of the landscape through the Impressionist’s distinctively expressive technique.