Poplars in Spring 

Curator: So, we’re looking at Henri Martin's "Poplars in Spring", and its pretty evident that his brushstrokes and color choices are a bit evocative to other Impressionist masters like Monet, Sisley, or Pissarro. What does the scene evoke for you, initially? Editor: Light, definitely light. It’s almost shimmering. There’s something ethereal about the way the light filters through those slender poplar trees, turning the leaves into these little explosions of golden-green. It gives you a sense of being present, breathing, growing… but the work feels more akin to Divisionism as much as Impressionism. Curator: Indeed, Martin seems pretty devoted to an independent course; "Poplars in Spring" illustrates just that through the careful application of line, even within a work focusing on nature as its motif. We also shouldn't forget that Martin had close relationships with pointillists. This could have played some sort of influence on the piece. Editor: That technique really serves to soften what could have been rigid lines. It lends that very dreamlike quality I felt so instantaneously. And even the seemingly random positioning of each point also creates rhythm; is that light or perhaps musicality coming to mind first here? I see him experimenting within those Impressionist boundaries, pushing the boundaries, playing with textures and visual harmonies in that field. Did Martin ever write about what kind of response he was hoping to elicit through his practice of open-air work? Curator: Not in as many words, though we understand how landscape had developed as a crucial subject within the art market during his active years. These plein-air depictions held a distinct market advantage with urban dwellers who sought to possess and experience a slice of the countryside, all from the conveniences of home. I guess, perhaps unsurprisingly, in most times, there existed always something political, institutional, or otherwise culturally related pressing up against artworks in our past. What about the figures in landscape though, like Millet or Courbet? Editor: Well, with Millet you felt the grit, the earth, the toiling figure at one with the soil… This painting, I think, steers us away from such harsh realities and takes on something perhaps more sentimental. Perhaps Martin was yearning to escape the confines of urban life and heavy manual work through works like this too. I certainly hope for that same freedom, a fresh take in Spring, each and everyday, to be quite frank. Curator: Martin offers that promise—of freshness and vibrancy but through the more abstracted lens of Impressionism. Editor: An uplifting perspective through the eyes of a very subtle, calculating eye of innovation indeed.