1866
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Singers is a 1866 unspecified by Augustin Théodule Ribot, a Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see three street singers in a dim alley—one man in a worn coat, a young boy, and a woman holding a baby. Ribot painted these performers as they really were: tired, poor, and overlooked. Other artists often made street singers look charming or picturesque. Ribot showed the grit. The dark background pushes your eyes straight to their faces, making their struggle feel close. Look up *chiaroscuro* to see how light and shadow can tell a story.
Ribot participated in a loosely defined artistic movement known as Realism, which sought to depict the gritty lives of workers and peasants. Often dark in tone and somber in mood, Realist paintings focused attention on social problems. Poor singers like these could be seen on the streets of Paris, but pictures of such singers were already a long-established theme in art history.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Théodule-Augustin Ribot (French: ; August 8, 1823 – September 11, 1891) was a French realist painter and printmaker.
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