The field of poppies or flowering meadows often become the theme of Claude Monet’s work. This picture shows Monet’s wife Camille and their son Jean in a field, not far from home in Argenteuil. A second pair of shapes on top of a hill is added to balance the composition. The picture is written in the open air.
The sketch of the picture is made in pencil, then Monet, using a small amount of liquid oil paint, sketches the main forms – a rough sketch. Next were drawn sky, trees and the roof of the house. The dress and umbrella of the woman are painted in blue cobalt and white, and where the dress blends with the grass, a little bit of green cobalt is added.
Poppies were added later, traced not with a simple stroke, but with various strokes, and become paler as you move. Monet was fascinated by the contrast between red flowers and green grass. Finishing the picture, the artist carefully prescribed the woman’s dress and the boy’s clothes in the foreground.
The painting was exhibited at the First Impressionist Exhibition in 1874
