The Railroad Crossing at Les Patis 1873

Camille Pissarro painted The Railroad Crossing at Les Patis using oil on canvas. Painted outside of Paris, we see the coming of modernity in the form of the train. This is not the romanticism of rural life; rather, here is the impact of industrialization bearing down on the countryside. It brings with it new class distinctions that define the figures. While we can consider the figures as simply archetypes of the rural working class, it’s impossible to ignore how their gender and labor are represented. What does it mean to be a woman waiting at a railroad crossing versus being the man who might be a worker, or might simply be passing through? One is defined by waiting, the other by work, or leisure. With the advent of industrialization, the world changed irreversibly, impacting society, class, and the gendered expectations of the time. It’s a moment that Pissarro captures here, in this painting of people waiting.