A Farmyard (Alternative Title : Old Buildings)

Louis Adolphe Hervier 1818 - 1879

Summary

The scene is the untidy yard of a dilapidated farm. The walls rising on all three sides render the scene claustrophobic and perhaps imply a limited existence for those who live and work here. One young woman stands in the yard with a basket and a child in her arms, while a second stands, without any apparent purpose, under a ramshackle lean-to on the left. Farmyard tools lean untidily against the trough on the right and some chickens are scratching around in the dust. Blue sky is visible above the roof. Hervier studied under Léon Cogniet and Eugène Isabey. He was a talented printmaker, but his paintings did not sell well and he was forced to paint backgrounds for other artists in order to help make a living. He was rejected by the Salon jury twenty-three times, but eventually accepted in 1849. Many of his scenes are derived from daily life, although not always from direct observation.