1880-1910

The period 1880-1910 is associated with Naturalistic, and particularly Symbolist works. Whereas Naturalism is about the immediate capture of the moment or plein air painting's interest in the countryside, Symbolism has a more ambivalent approach to the subject. For example, Boudin's picture La Plage á Etretat views nature through the glasses of Naturalism. Painstaking observation provides the basis for the reproduction or mirroring of nature, and one senses the atmosphere of the small fishing village. Light, bright colour tones, applied with discreet brush strokes, characterise the style. The observation of nature carries the subject. In contrast, Willumsen's painting Two Breton Women Part After a Chat, has been painted "on a large scale". The contours are wound up, the colours are applied in expansive, almost uniform areas. The composition is rigidly built up out of shapes and surfaces, and raises the subject above the commonplace.