Impact of Industrialism on Late Nineteenth Century French Peasant Painters

FAIN: FT-12474-75

Mary M. Hamel
Eastern Kentucky University (Richmond, KY 40475-3102)

To examine the effects of industrialism, and the ensuing social, economic and religious situation upon the image of the French rural worker in paintings of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. To locate, chronologically organize, and investigate works by artists of "The Rustic School." Beyond tracing lost works and reviving isolated minor masters, the project will test the idea that these artists made significant readjustments in their rustic subjects as the awareness grew that traditional rustic life as they knew it was dying. The study has two main concerns: (1) to determine whether similarities in style, technique, and treatment of the subject matter are, or are not, indicative of attitudes commonly held by artists faced with an industrialized