"Landscape" is perhaps Philip Leslie Hale's most progressive painting, reflecting his awareness of Monet's move to more abstract subjects (in his series of poplar paintings, for instance) and of the Nabis, a French movement that sought to disavow academicism in favor of the more decorative aspects of art. Led by Paul Serusier, Maurice Denis, Pierre Bonnard, and Edouard Vuillard, the Nabis experimented with simplified drawing, flat patches of color, and bold contours in the pursuit of decorative beauty rather than description. Both Monet and the Nabis were influenced by Japanese aesthetics, which liberated the artist from a literal transcription of nature and emphasized simplified natural forms and the extraction of decorative patterns from nature.