Still Life with Pheasants and Plovers

The iridescent plumage of a ring-necked pheasant was an enthralling subject for the Impressionist painter Claude Monet, and one he treated a number of times in the late 1870s. This painting demonstrates the artist’s supreme mastery of color: the play of light on the pheasants creates a vibrant life that belies the subject of dead game. The work was exhibited in the Seventh Impressionist Exhibition of 1882. Monet selected it over three closely related paintings, indicating that he saw this version as the definitive rendering of the challenging theme.