Monet’s style was characterized by how he portrayed light with his use of color and brushwork. Some of his famous artworks include his series titled Haystacks (1890 – 1891), Rouen Cathedral (1892 – 1894), and Water Lilies (1840 - 1926).
Claude Monet painted Wild Poppies Near Argenteuil in 1873, which was when he lived in Argenteuil; he moved there from 1871 and reportedly lived there for six years.
The painting depicts a grassy and hilly field spanning around half of the composition. to the right are two figures, a woman, and a child, who are believed to be Monet’s wife and son, Camille, and Jean, respectively.
Wild Poppies Near Argenteuil is composed of blues, greens, yellows, reds, and white. The field to the left is eye-catching because it is mostly red from the poppy flowers, while the rest of the field is a mix of greens and blue.
Some areas are also thinly applied as if in scumbles to create the texture of the tree’s leaves or the clouds in the sky. Monets brushstrokes are expressive and filled with life, which gives us the “impression” of a fleeting everyday scene outside.
There is reportedly a diagonal line implied by the two figures on the embankment in the left middleground and the two figures below the embankment to the right foreground of the composition.
Shape and form are seemingly dictated by Monet’s fluid brushstrokes. While form is more achieved through three-dimensional shapes, in the poppy field painting Monet created an aspect of depth by shading certain areas of the subject matter.