It depicts his first wife, Camille Doncieux, seated reading beneath a canopy of lilacs.

[1] Late in the year 1871, Monet and his family settled in Argenteuil, a village Northwest of Paris.

In the spring of 1872, Monet painted a number of canvases in his garden, often showing Camille and Alfred Sisley's companion, Adélaïde-Eugénie Lescouezec.

[2] Springtime was on display at an exhibition organized by the Impressionists at Durand Ruel's Paris Gallery, from March 30 to April 30, 1876.

The reproduction – the original is part of the Walters Art Museum collection – was on display at the Cylburn Arboretum.