c. 1879

Artist Painting

French, 1850 - 1924

With his back to the viewer, a coarse-looking artist puts the finishing touches to an already framed painting. This picture-within-the-picture shows a vagabond or ragpicker sitting beside his bundle in a suburban field with factories in the background. While the image of the painter may be a self-portrait, Raffaëlli probably also identified with the ragpicker. Like this figure, he lived in an industrial suburb of Paris and struggled to earn a living.