It wasn't actually a painting that Monet deemed his ‘greatest work of art’ but the beautiful gardens he created at his home in Giverny. In his later years, it became his sole subject.

The bridge, which Monet designed himself, shows the influence of Japanese art on his work. This is one of 18 canvases of this view in differing light conditions that Monet started in the summer of 1899, the same year he started painting Waterloo and Charing Cross bridges.

The late afternoon sun casts a shaft of light over the bridge, illuminating the right-hand side in pale green in contrast to the prevailing darker blue-green.

The bold line of the bridge and the longer brushstrokes of the reeds provide a contrast to the small daubs of colour of the water lilies.

Monet’s water lilies were a hybrid breed in pink and yellow as well as white.

The undersides of the water lilies were dark red, the same colour in which Monet signed the painting. Red is on the other side of the colour wheel to the green that dominates the painting; this contrast was in keeping with Monet's interest in complementary colours.

During his stay in Litzlberg on the Attersee in the summer of 1907, Klimt discovered a magnificent poppy-filled meadow which he captured in the painting "Poppy Field." The meadow extends across almost the entire surface of the painting.

Narrow fruit trees protrude from the meadow, but their shapes merge so strongly with the grass and flowers that their outlines are barely visible to the observer.

It is only at the top of the picture where it is possible to get a view of the landscape in the background and a narrow strip of sky.

For the painting style of this magnificent meadow scene, Klimt made use of a technique that is unmistakably reminiscent of French pointillism. During this time, French and Belgian pointillism paintings were also very popular in Vienna.

Pointillist works could regularly be seen in the Vienna Secession around 1900. Paintings by Théo van Rysselberghe were exhibited in 1899, followed by works by Paul Signac in 1900. And the great impressionism exhibition of 1903 displayed several major works by Georges Seurat.

However, the pointillist spots of color by Klimt contribute less toward color synthesis, which is based on strict methodology. Klimt's specks and dots act more as a welcome means of achieving an ornamental effect.

For example, Klimt still depicts the large poppy and daisy flowers in the foreground in a very naturalistic way.

It is only when moving backward that they increasingly turn into specks of color. The shape of Klimt's color spots therefore differs according to the spatial distance of the motifs.