Two paintings from Edgar Degas have still, 150 years later, defied all attempts to resolve their narratives. Another from Britain, and one from the American Eastman Johnson.
Johnson
From providing basic hospitality to those who couldn’t be nursed by their families, hospitals started to change during the Age of Enlightenment. But for many they were still the waiting room for hell.
People and the props which they carry can readily show the effects of the wind. Some brilliant examples illustrate this well.
Christmas holiday was one of the few occasions that brought people out of the warm to outdoor fairs and festivals.
A major project which he eventually abandoned, the remaining studies might today appear cryptic. There is more than one story behind them.
The Eclectic Light Company 