From 1880, artists concentrated on social aspects of work. They questioned whether young children should be at work, and the role of the worker in society.
naturalism
With the Industrial Revolution, painters started to depict the furnaces and factories which grew rapidly across Europe and North America. This selection runs to 1879.
After the early death of Bastien-Lepage, he led the Naturalist movement in France. After 1892, though, he concentrated on religious themes seen in a new light.
Working alongside Jules Bastien-Lepage, he was a brilliant painter who in his early career experimented with different styles.
In his later work, he used pastels more, creating soft images of twilight scenes in town and country.
A Symbolist, Realist, or Naturalist? His early theme was the tribulations of a woman’s life, and his images often haunting.
An emaciated corpse in a morgue, a notorious nude rejected by the Salon, and a busy day in the couturier: his choice of motifs was very broad.
After a period writing for his living, Krohg painted two series: one about sailing and the sea, the other about the artist’s model.
His last ‘naturalist’ or social realist painting was in 1889. He also painted his family, and evocative motifs to support Norway’s coming independence.
In the 1880s, he developed new themes, involving tiredness, cares of motherhood, and fallen women who had gone from slaving at sewing machines to prostitution. Paintings became part of social campaigning.
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