Poppies 1886

John Singer Sargent made this painting, Poppies, using oil paints. The material itself, oil paint, is interesting. It allowed artists like Sargent to capture light and color in a way that hadn't been possible before, facilitating this impressionistic style. But what about the poppies themselves? In Sargent's time, these flowers, especially the opium poppy, were loaded with social meaning. The vivid red of the blooms, built up with layers of impasto, draws your eye right into the canvas, suggesting the seductive power of the flower’s hidden properties. Poppies were a raw material, commodified and traded across the British Empire, connected to complex issues of labor, class, and politics. The painting's beauty belies a darker history, one where aesthetics and ethics intertwine. It reminds us that even the most seemingly innocent artwork is born out of a specific historical context and carries the weight of its making.