Landscape with Peasants before an Inn c. 1768

Aignan-Thomas Desfriches created this small landscape in France using graphite, likely in the latter half of the 18th century. It depicts peasants outside a rural inn, a common scene, but one pregnant with social implications. During this period, France was a society of strict hierarchies. Artists often depicted rural life through rose-tinted glasses, idealizing the peasantry for the pleasure of the aristocracy. But here, we might ask, does Desfriches participate in this idealization or offer a subtle critique? The inn, a public space, would have been a site of social interaction, where class divisions might be momentarily blurred or, perhaps, reinforced. The very act of depicting peasants in a landscape, rather than in a more formal portrait, speaks to their position in the social hierarchy. To fully understand this drawing, we might consult period literature, social histories, and even economic records to get a sense of the lived experiences of the French peasantry. Art doesn't exist in a vacuum; it's always in conversation with the social and institutional forces of its time.