1887’s Under the Lamp by French Impressionist artist Marie Bracquemond depicts a man and woman about to have a meal.
The table is replete with a loosely painted still life of crockery and food that looks back to Bracquemond’s training studying old masters like Chardin.
The scene and style, if not the class of the protagonists, is also reminiscent of Courbet’s peasant scenes earlier in the 19th century. Bracquemond’s smoky tones and soft light are accomplished by delicately imprecise brushwork.
Marie Bracquemond’s Under the Lamp is in the Maurice Sternberg Galleries in Chicago, Illinois.