Themes of exhausted mothers with sick children, the tired out seamstress and her descent into prostitution, the failure of law enforcement, and documenting those living in Skagen.
realism
In his later career he returned to rural themes, although his last major work showed Les Halles, the main market in Paris at the time.
A precocious artist whose Naturalist paintings showed the harsh realities of rural poverty and hard labour. A friend of Zola, he also painted leading figures in science.
From dice shooters in a rough tavern, through Bastien-Lepage’s Little Chimneysweep, to poverty in Catania, and destitution in Paris.
In narrative, including Degas’ ‘Waiting’, as a sign of wind, as an arc of colour, or simply to tell the viewer that it’s raining.
By the end of the 19th century, 80% of those in Europe lived in towns and cities, drawn there by the promise of material riches that were not available to them in the country. This new series explores what they faced.
From detailed realism in a Barbizon style around 1880, his paintings steadily filled with rich light, through Impressionism the 1890s.
The long-running thread in many of his paintings, his quest for visual truth, seen in the blind Michelangelo, the arena, a courtesan on trial, and Truth coming out of her well.
From depth cues used by painters in ancient times, through the many advances in the Northern Renaissance, to modern photographic projections.
More important than perspective projection are cues including depth order, relative size, height in the picture plane, and aerial perspective.
The Eclectic Light Company 