Flowers, Blue Iris with Trunk of Dead Apple Tree

In this small painting, John La Farge reveals his intense interest in Asian art, through both subject matter and composition. It also displays his expert knowledge of color, gathered through his work in stained glass and study of French academic and English Pre-Raphaelite painting. Here, the sun-dappled field brilliantly draws the eye with a deft combination of bright colors to replicate the dazzling effect of the sun. Composed in a distinctly non-Western manner, the tree trunk at the right is dominant despite its severe cropping. The high horizon line places the viewer low to the ground, for close examination of the irises that press against the picture plane.