Painting of the Month – Poppy Field in a Hollow near Giverny 1885, after Claude Monet

With Claude Monet’s birthday on the 14th November and Armistice Day on the 11th November, this month’s painting is quite fitting. ‘Poppy Field in a Hollow near Giverny’ was painted by Claude Monet in 1885.

Monet roamed these fields during the years he lived in the village, admiring rolling hills to the north and fields of poppies and wheat to the south. Unfortunately, 60 years after he created this beautiful painting, blood was spilt in the hollows during the Battle of Vernon, in World War II.

Monet, one of the founders of French Impressionism, painted mainly outdoors, (en plein-air) observing nature and the colour of the natural world. In this painting, the paint strokes blend into one another so that no clear outlines are visible, with just a suggestion of the hills, field, grass and poppies in the sunlight.

David Henty Monet style paintings are available @ www.cloudgalleryfineart.com and @ www.gallery500feet.com