Weeping Willow, 1918

Cascading branches of a willow tree spill downward across the canvas, rendered in loose strokes of yellow, green, and blue that stand out against a dark background. The arrangement suggests a tree seen up close, its hanging limbs filling the frame with color and movement. This oil painting, titled Weeping Willow, was created in 1918 and is held at the Columbus Museum of Art. The museum received the piece as a gift. Claude Monet, who lived from 1840 to 1926 and worked in France, is associated with Impressionism and painted Haystacks among his notable works. The willow's drooping lines, built from short overlapping touches of pigment, give the branches a sense of gentle motion despite the stillness of the dark backdrop behind them. The contrast between the bright foliage and the shadowed ground draws attention to the texture of the brushwork itself, worth lingering over.