Grenoble 1790

Jean-Joseph-Xavier Bidauld created this landscape of Grenoble with oil paint, a medium that allowed him to build up layers of color and detail. Oil painting, while a traditional fine art material, here serves to depict a scene teeming with social and economic contrasts. Note the clothing of the figures, particularly the well-dressed couple, as well as the workers carrying bundles. The painting seems to reflect the different tiers within society, and the labor required to support it. Bidauld's skill in blending the paint allows him to capture the atmospheric perspective, softening the details of the mountains in the distance. Consider the amount of work involved in producing not just the scene depicted, but the painting itself. From grinding pigments to preparing the canvas, the artist's hand is evident in every brushstroke. This attention to both the subject and the medium challenges the traditional hierarchy between fine art and craft, reminding us that all art is the product of skilled labor and material transformation.