The Ages of the Worker
Art by Léon Frédéric (1856-1940) seen at the Musée d'Orsay. This 1895 triptych titled "The Ages of the Worker" or "Les âges de l'ouvrier" With women mothering on the right, struggling workers laboring on the left and the the children caught in the middle with not a smile on a single face, makes for quite a social statement.
The artist has another compelling social statement that can be seen at the Metropolitan Museum of Art called The Three Sisters. I've posted a photo of that work with the text "Léon Frédéric (August 26, 1856 – January 27, 1940) was a Belgian Symbolism painter. During the 1890’s his paintings of improvised workers and peasants were celebrated for forthrightness and arresting intensity. In this painting the humdrum activity of peeling potatoes seem to clash with bright red dresses but the downcast eyes and facial expressions match the activity." The young girls peeling potatoes in that painting tie in with the girl in the red dress grasping a loaf of bread in this triptych.
My brief description of "The Ages of the Worker" doesn't come anywhere near capturing the emotion of this social statement, so I'll copy and paste the English translation of the Musée d'Orsay page on this triptych.
"Throughout his career, the Brussels symbolist painter Léon Frédéric has inscribed his work in the great Flemish Baroque tradition. He does not hesitate to resort to the old arrangement in the form of a triptych, and to fill each of his shutters with an abundant and powerfully expressive crowd in his gestures as well as in his attitudes. So it is with the three strands united under the name The ages of the worker which stages dozens of characters. The left panel favors the representation of men and works of strength; The panel on the right, that of women in their maternal functions. In the middle, from childhood to youth, parade those who leave the school, the workshop or the building site.
Counterpoint of this human tide which is directed towards the spectator, In the center of the picture, towards the background moves away the funeral convoy which evokes the inevitable epilogue of all existence. The presence of red flags around the hearse inscribes this last tribute in line with the social demands of the late nineteenth century, which was supported by some of the contemporary creators.
The drawing, exacerbated by the use of an argentine light that glides over the forms and defines them clearly, reinforces the impression of animation and saturation of the space wanted by the painter. Inscribed this last tribute in line with the social demands of the end of the nineteenth century, which was supported by a part of the contemporary creators. The drawing, exacerbated by the use of an argentine light that glides over the forms and defines them clearly, reinforces the impression of animation and saturation of the space wanted by the painter. Inscribed this last tribute in line with the social demands of the end of the nineteenth century, which was supported by a part of the contemporary creators. The drawing, exacerbated by the use of an argentine light that glides over the forms and defines them clearly, reinforces the impression of animation and saturation of the space wanted by the painter."
The Ages of the Worker
Art by Léon Frédéric (1856-1940) seen at the Musée d'Orsay. This 1895 triptych titled "The Ages of the Worker" or "Les âges de l'ouvrier" With women mothering on the right, struggling workers laboring on the left and the the children caught in the middle with not a smile on a single face, makes for quite a social statement.
The artist has another compelling social statement that can be seen at the Metropolitan Museum of Art called The Three Sisters. I've posted a photo of that work with the text "Léon Frédéric (August 26, 1856 – January 27, 1940) was a Belgian Symbolism painter. During the 1890’s his paintings of improvised workers and peasants were celebrated for forthrightness and arresting intensity. In this painting the humdrum activity of peeling potatoes seem to clash with bright red dresses but the downcast eyes and facial expressions match the activity." The young girls peeling potatoes in that painting tie in with the girl in the red dress grasping a loaf of bread in this triptych.
My brief description of "The Ages of the Worker" doesn't come anywhere near capturing the emotion of this social statement, so I'll copy and paste the English translation of the Musée d'Orsay page on this triptych.
"Throughout his career, the Brussels symbolist painter Léon Frédéric has inscribed his work in the great Flemish Baroque tradition. He does not hesitate to resort to the old arrangement in the form of a triptych, and to fill each of his shutters with an abundant and powerfully expressive crowd in his gestures as well as in his attitudes. So it is with the three strands united under the name The ages of the worker which stages dozens of characters. The left panel favors the representation of men and works of strength; The panel on the right, that of women in their maternal functions. In the middle, from childhood to youth, parade those who leave the school, the workshop or the building site.
Counterpoint of this human tide which is directed towards the spectator, In the center of the picture, towards the background moves away the funeral convoy which evokes the inevitable epilogue of all existence. The presence of red flags around the hearse inscribes this last tribute in line with the social demands of the late nineteenth century, which was supported by some of the contemporary creators.
The drawing, exacerbated by the use of an argentine light that glides over the forms and defines them clearly, reinforces the impression of animation and saturation of the space wanted by the painter. Inscribed this last tribute in line with the social demands of the end of the nineteenth century, which was supported by a part of the contemporary creators. The drawing, exacerbated by the use of an argentine light that glides over the forms and defines them clearly, reinforces the impression of animation and saturation of the space wanted by the painter. Inscribed this last tribute in line with the social demands of the end of the nineteenth century, which was supported by a part of the contemporary creators. The drawing, exacerbated by the use of an argentine light that glides over the forms and defines them clearly, reinforces the impression of animation and saturation of the space wanted by the painter."