Painter and His Wife Just Finishing Their Meal c. 19th century

Michael Baschiloff painted “Painter and His Wife Just Finishing Their Meal” using watercolor and graphite. The artist combined these materials in such a way that he captured a sense of everyday life. The translucency of the watercolors allows the viewer to see the graphite under-drawing, revealing the artistic process. It is as if we are catching a glimpse of the artist’s intimate world and the painting is unfinished. The small scale enhances this feeling of being drawn into the artist’s domestic space, creating a sense of informality. The setting is painterly, with an image on the wall depicting an act of brutality, and the colors feel muted as if reflecting domestic fatigue. By using these accessible materials, Baschiloff blurred the boundaries between the fine arts and the depiction of humble scenes of everyday life, raising questions about what is deemed worthy of artistic representation.