With no horizon line or path for the eye to follow, the composition pitches forward to emphasize the flat surface of the canvas. Even the shadows offer little sense of depth. The vigorously painted red and gold blossoms seem to float over their green stems.
This painting captures a moment when Vonnoh experimented with pure Impressionism in the style of Monet—painting quickly and outdoors with broken brushwork and intense contrasting colors. It dates from the summer that he learned Impressionism at the artists’ colony of Grez, France, making this one of the earliest American Impressionist paintings.
Like many Americans, Vonnoh later tempered his technique to a more moderate approach to brushwork and color.
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