This watercolor is characteristic of de Longpré’s mature flower paintings. Focusing on one or two stalks with buds and flowers, de Longpré isolated the arrangement by leaving the background white. Such a treatment and use of watercolor as a drawing medium relate to traditional botanical renderings (which de Longpré studied while working with a French horticulturist named Paillet). The poppy, the state flower of California, shares with the rose, for which de Longpré is better known, many characteristics that appealed to the artist, namely its large, sensuous petals and brilliant hues.
