How to Read Paintings: Wild Poppies by Claude Monet
The famous view that brings colour and context to life
What is it that’s so captivating about this painting by Claude Monet? It seems to contain so little drama, so little incident or thrill, except for the Coquelicots — otherwise known as Wild Poppies in English. Yet the painting has become one of the most recognisable works of art ever made.
Its brilliance lies behind a veneer of apparent simplicity. It shows a woman and a child wandering through a meadow of grasses. They have just descended down the bank. One senses they are on a journey, a day out walking, probably from the large red-roofed house in the background. This is the first fleck of artistry: the hint of narrative that breathes a spark of psychological life into the scene.
The woman with the parasol and the child next to her are probably Monet’s wife, Camille, and their son Jean. They walk together; yet she also steps momentarily ahead of the child, who for now is occupied with his bunch of picked flowers.
This stepping away matters because it creates a subtle disjuncture. Along with the gesture of the parasol…
