Marigolds (section)

Step closer and you almost feel the warmth of a summer garden bursting with color. This is "Marigolds," painted around 1910 by Koloman Moser, an Austrian artist who helped shape the famous Vienna Secession movement. The orange and yellow blooms seem to glow against the deep green leaves, packed so tightly together that there is barely any sky in sight. Moser used thick, lively brushstrokes that give the whole scene a sense of energy, as if the flowers are still growing right before your eyes.

What makes this painting interesting is that Moser was best known not as a painter but as a designer. He created everything from furniture and jewelry to postage stamps and stained glass, becoming one of the most versatile artists of his time. Late in his life he turned more seriously to painting, and works like this one show his love of pattern and bold color carried over from his design work. There is no story or hidden meaning here, just the simple pleasure of a flower bed seen up close, treated with the eye of someone who spent his whole career making beautiful things.