Yellow Irises 1917

Claude Monet painted these "Yellow Irises" with oil on canvas, and what strikes me right away is the almost frenetic energy of his brushstrokes. It’s like he’s not just painting irises, but the feeling of being surrounded by them, the wind rustling through their leaves. Look closely, and you can see how the texture of the paint itself becomes part of the picture. Monet doesn't blend his colors smoothly, instead, he lets them sit side by side, little dabs of greens and blues and yellows that vibrate against each other. Take the petals of the flowers themselves. See how they’re not just yellow but a mix of orange and white, capturing the way light hits them and makes them shimmer. It’s this attention to the physical properties of paint that gives the work its ephemeral quality. This reminds me of the later work of Joan Mitchell, who also used color and gestural brushstrokes to convey emotion and experience. "Yellow Irises" is a testament to the fact that art is not just about representing the world, but about creating a new one, through color, texture, and feeling.