The House of Sabotier 

Henri Martin created this painting, The House of Sabotier, with oil on canvas. Martin lived through a period of rapid social and political change in France, including the rise of industrialization and the growth of cities. The painting shows a rural scene, with a stone house nestled among trees and a field. The house is simple and unadorned, suggesting that it is the home of working-class people. France at this time was an agricultural society. We can use the term 'peasants' to refer to agricultural laborers, a group that had specific social and economic status. Martin’s painting style uses tiny dots of color, a visual language that was known as Pointillism. Martin was interested in capturing the beauty of everyday life and the lives of ordinary people. As historians, we can look at the artwork within France's social and institutional context. We can research the art market at the time to investigate the role of galleries in promoting paintings of the French countryside.