Gift of the Hanna Fund · The Cleveland Museum of Art
Image: public domain (CC0) · Museum record & image source ↗
Spring Flowers
- Date
- 1864
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Framed: 144.5 x 117.2 x 12.1 cm (56 7/8 x 46 1/8 x 4 3/4 in.); Unframed: 116.8 x 90.5 cm (46 x 35 5/8 in.)
- Country / context
- France
- Movement / tradition
- Impressionism · Source ↗
- Collection
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Pathway
- European and American art ↗
This early work reveals Claude Monet's fascination with capturing the transitory effects that became the primary focus of his later innovations. Painted with almost scientific accuracy, this still life has a freshness and immediacy derived partly from its composition. Isolated against a dark background, the fully mature peonies, potted hydrangeas, and basketed lilacs spill downward and outward from the geraniums at the rear. At the same time, Monet's energetic brushwork conveys the sparkling play of light on leaves and petals.
Collection text · The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0Start with what you can see: shapes, surface, colour and scale. How might the listed materials affect the way this object was made and experienced?
Looking prompt · an invitation to observe, not a historical interpretation.
