Blossoms

Historical Context

'Blossoms' of 1881, now in the National Gallery, is widely considered one of Moore's masterpieces and his most successful synthesis of figure, flower, and colour harmony. Exhibited at the Grosvenor Gallery in 1881, it attracted critical attention from figures including Algernon Charles Swinburne, who wrote admiringly of Moore's purely aesthetic ambitions. The National Gallery acquisition placed it at the summit of British institutional recognition. Cherry or apple blossoms provided Moore with a warm white and pale pink palette that he orchestrated against his figures' cool drapery in a harmony of extraordinary delicacy. The painting has served as a touchstone for discussions of the relationship between Moore's work and Japanese art, since the blossom subject and the interest in decorative arrangement both reflect the Japanese influence on Aesthetic painting in this period.

Technical Analysis

The blossom canopy is built through dense, complex glazing and individual petal-by-petal attention in the foreground passages, while the background blossoms become more summary as they recede. The figures' ivory and cool-blue drapery is set against this warm floral backdrop in Moore's most exquisitely calculated tonal chord, with the overall harmony balanced to produce maximum chromatic pleasure without any note of discord.

Look Closer

◆Foreground blossom clusters are individually rendered while background canopy becomes increasingly abstract, creating a focused depth of field effect.
◆The tonal chord between cool drapery and warm blossom pink is Moore's most carefully calibrated chromatic achievement.
◆Figures are posed with a quality of absorbed upward attention toward the blossoms that models the viewer's invited looking relationship.
◆Pale warm light suffusing the whole canvas is achieved through underlayer glazes of raw umber and lead white that glow through the cooler surface tones.