Punts on a River 

Daniel Ridgway Knight made this painting, Punts on a River, with oil on canvas. The material itself provides a great deal of information about the image. Knight has opted for a very traditional approach to painting. The strokes are quite loose, as if he were trying to capture the atmosphere of the riverbank, rather than give an exacting description. We can tell that he has thinned the paint with turpentine to produce this effect; see the way the colors blend almost imperceptibly into one another, as if the riverbank were dissolving into the sky. Knight uses these familiar artistic techniques to give the viewer an insight into the lives of ordinary people in the countryside. We can imagine that Knight might have wanted to elevate the status of the working classes by placing them in the same frame as the French aristocracy or royalty. Here we can see the significance of the materials, making, and context in understanding the full meaning of an artwork.