The Willows

Claude Monet

National Gallery of Art

Between us and a river lined with buildings on the far bank in the distance, tall willow trees nearly span the height of this horizontal landscape. The scene is loosely painted, and the color palette is almost completely dominated by cool tones of spring, sage, celery, and kelly green, and steel and sea blue. The grasses near us are painted with diagonal strokes that alternate direction and color as they move back toward the river. Golden yellow daubs in the lower right suggest blooms, and leaves on the trees are created with thin, upward strokes and dabs along slender branches. The trees reach high into a sky filled with sweeps of beige, blush pink, and spring green layered over pale blue. The river is a lavender gray, and the low, tightly clustered buildings are painted with a mix of ochre, peach, and denim blue. The artist has signed and dated the work in the lower right corner, though the final digit is illegible: “Claude Monet 188.”