Tulip Fields at Sassenheim, 1886

Rows of brightly colored tulips stretch across a level stretch of land, with a lone farmhouse set on a rise in the distance, a scattering of trees, and a sky filled with white clouds against the blue. The scene draws the eye toward the horizon, where the farmhouse sits quietly above the patchwork of blooms. This piece, titled Tulip Fields at Sassenheim, was completed in 1886 using oil, and it is held at the Clark Art Institute. The artist, Claude Monet (1840–1926), was French and worked within the Impressionist movement, also known for his painting Impression, Sunrise. One detail worth noticing is how the clouds break up the otherwise calm blue sky, adding a sense of movement above the still fields below.