Poplars

Monet painted this in the summer and autumn of 1891, working on a line of poplars along the river Epte, a few kilometres upstream from his garden at Giverny. Partway through, he learned the trees were about to be cut down: the commune of Limetz that owned them had put them up for auction as timber. Rather than lose his subject, Monet made a deal with the buyer, a local wood merchant, and paid him to leave the row standing until the paintings were finished. He worked several canvases at once, some from the bank, some from a boat fitted with grooves so he could swap one for the next as the light shifted, following the same trees from morning to dusk. The tall trunks here run straight up and off the top edge, so the row seems to climb on past the frame. Once he had finished, the poplars came down after all.