Street in Damvillers

Street in Damvillers, painted in 1882 and held in the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design in Oslo, depicts the village where Bastien-Lepage was born and to which he returned repeatedly throughout his short career. Damvillers in the Meuse department of Lorraine was the source of many of his most personal works, and he was proud of his peasant roots and regional identity despite his academic success in Paris. The street scene subject was relatively unusual for Bastien-Lepage, who more commonly depicted figures in fields or gardens; the architectural focus on the village street represents a documentary interest in the built fabric of rural life alongside the human. The Norwegian collection of the work reflects the enormous influence Bastien-Lepage had on Scandinavian naturalist painting in the 1880s, particularly on Norwegian and Danish artists who traveled to France specifically to study his technique. The Oslo holding stands as a monument to that cross-cultural influence.

The street setting requires Bastien-Lepage to organize architectural perspectives within his plein-air approach. The quality of afternoon light on stone walls and the specific textures of a rural French village are captured with his characteristic matte, dry surface. Figures, if present, would be given greater painterly attention than the architecture but placed within it as natural inhabitants of the space.