SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY IN ART 361 



is no warning hand to hold the soul from running to her own 

 destruction; and the indifference of nature to suffering or 

 happiness is terrible to contemplate. The grassy bank is cov- 

 ered with many colored grasses, the different colors giving 

 the effect of light and shadow. These different patches are 

 formed like triangles. The entire picture can be looked upon 

 as the interior of a geometrical solid. The poppy-field is a par- 

 allelogram; diagonal lines run across it from one to the oppo- 

 site corner, and these large triangles can in turn be divided 

 into smaller ones. The effect of triangulation can be well 

 seen at a distance, but is very much plainer by a near inspec- 

 tion of the canvas. It is significant that in one of Monet's 

 highest expressions of thought the unbending principles of 

 geometrical form are the most clearly discernible. It may 

 be claiming too much to say that mathematical principles are 

 the basis of all truth, but that the two are nearly related must 

 be acknowledged. 



No. 212, "A Landscape at Giverny," is an expression of 

 hopelessness, of the unattainableness of absolute truth, and 

 a confirmation of science's teachings, in the ultimate useless- 

 ness of human effort. To the appreciative such a picture 

 would be unbearable as a constant companion ; though it is 

 the crowning effort of Monet's genius, and proclaims him the 

 philosopher of the Impressionist school. 



The mathematical principles are fully expressed in this 

 picture, and vivify the thought that geometry is soulless, and 

 that natural forces are relentless and pitiless. In the imme- 

 diate foreground runs a gay poppy-field, which might well be 

 the poppy-field of No. 270 continued, and we may accept it 

 as the continuation of the soul's history. Bounding this field, 

 along a diagonal line, are some deserted houses; beyond, and 

 to the right, are a series of fields and lines of trees alternating. 

 A bright light strikes one of these fields, and gives the effect 

 of water. On and on the eye travels to the right corner of the 

 background, where the deep blue of the hill range looms up. 

 Above all lowers a heavy gray sky, blank and cheerless. 

 Speculation can go no further; what is beyond these hills may 

 never be known. The heart weakens and the soul is faint at 



