he magnificent ensemble of masterpieces by Monet in the collec- its self-contained existence, he even went so far as to outline it with a T tion of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York also includes strip of grayish purple that lends a certain aura to the large haystack. his Lane in the Poppy Field, Île Saint-Martin of 1880 (figs. 6/40, cat. 9). Despite its seemingly arbitrary frame of view, the work exhibits a per- Painted with a rapid hand as if in a moment of inspiration, this painting fect balance of color and depth on the left and towering on the has a correspondingly immediate effect on the viewer. The Stuttgarter right, which follow the invisible line of the bank from the middle ground Galerieverein would have done well to purchase this masterpiece from and give rhythm to the painted surface. If the viewer’s gaze is lured from the exhibition in the Festaal of the Staatsgalerie in 1906 as well (see the field of poppies into the distance, toward the hillside and the village p. 120). of Vétheuil, it is gently guided from the middle of the painting and the landscape back to the foreground by a sequence of trees and bushes. Fur- thermore, the vertical strip of a small path through the dark green in the right foreground invites the viewer to take an imaginary stroll through aystacks at , a painting done in 1885 and now in a private this springtime scene with its “fragrant” colors. H collection (figs. 9/46, cat. 11), does not present a spring land- scape in the strictest sense. It looks more like a summer scene than the Moscow painting, although its coloration evokes a sense of springtime. In the haystack nearer the foreground on the left is a somewhat vaguely our years later, we encounter a motif that will play a leading role shaded area where the paint was applied more thickly. It may be that F in Monet’s art in later years. His , Night Effect from the Monet originally placed sitting figures here, as in the variation at the Pushkin Museum in Moscow (fig. 7) is a close relative of the painting Ohara Museum of Art in Kurashiki, Japan (fig. 45), and then painted from a private collection completed the following year (figs. 9/46, cat. over them. In any event, the four standing figures that face the viewer 11) in terms of subject, time of day, and format. The Moscow canvas give the painting a different character, a sense of hesitant motion. appears to have been painted somewhat earlier in the year. It’s most striking feature is its extraordinarily vivid, lively coloration. Even the shaded area in the foreground is brightened by isolated spots of light and color, which are concentrated in the large haystack. The stack breathes hat same year, Monet painted the larger Meadow with Haystacks out moisture and freshness, while the mowed, sunlit, yellow and green T near Giverny, an important work in the collection of the Museum field radiates brightness and a pleasant spring atmosphere. The line of of Fine Arts, Boston, which was unfortunately not available for our exhi- blue and green poplars bears a close resemblance to the trees in the bition (fig. 8/47). The rays of the slowly setting sun break through the Stuttgart painting, although the composition in this work is simpler, as lower branches of the trees, distributing narrow patches of light over the there is only one row of trees behind which a vividly colored hillside meadow, with its rich, saturated colors.The haystacks have also taken on rises in the background. Isolated splashes of pink in the partly cloudy sky a shimmering, rosy evening hue, and the opaque colors in the sky toward announce the impending arrival of evening. the right are shifting to pink as well.

The artist later elaborated on the haystack motif in several magnificent The receding line of trees, which turns and runs parallel to the frame of series. In this precursor work, Monet used a large number of colors to the painting in the middle, borders the meadow.Although the meadow is convey an impression of the living character of a haystack. Underscoring the scene of periodic annual work, it is devoid of human figures. This

26 6 | Lane in the Poppy Field, Île Saint-Martin, 1880,The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NewYork; Bequest of Julia W.Emmons | CAT. 9