Cobbler's Quarters
1864
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1864
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Cobbler's Quarters is a 1864 unspecified by Jean Alphonse Duplessy, a Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a small, cluttered room with two pairs of boots on the floor. Tools are scattered around. A pot-bellied stove sits in the middle. A folding table stands in the corner with a curtain behind it. The painting shows a working man’s life without showing the man. Every detail tells his story. The boots, tools, and stove hint at his daily routine. This kind of quiet scene makes me think of the Dutch Golden Age paintings. Look it up next.
This modest room is both the professional and personal domain of its inhabitant. Although the cobbler himself is not represented, he is nevertheless portrayed through all the details of his daily life. On the floor two pairs of boots wait to be repaired, surrounded by craftsman's tools. The pot-bellied stove in the middle of the room provides both heat and a place for cooking meals to be eaten at the folding table in the background at the left. The curtain behind the table probably hides an alcove with the cobbler's bed. A small statuette of Napoleon on the shelf at the upper right suggests…
Read the full account in the museum source.
Jean Alphonse Duplessy (1817–1882) was a French artist, born in Paris.
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