The Port of Marseilles transhipping 

Henri Martin created ‘The Port of Marseilles transhipping’ using oil paints in a mosaic-like Pointillist style. Look at the visible dabs and strokes of paint and how they merge to create the final image. Martin was interested in capturing the essence of the bustling port through the way he used color and light. You can see this effect particularly in the water, with its shimmering surface. The subject itself, the port, speaks volumes about the rise of industrialization and global trade. Marseilles was a major hub for shipping and commerce, full of laborers loading and unloading cargo. Though Martin doesn’t depict those workers directly, their presence is implied through the infrastructure of the port: the cranes, the boats, and the buildings. Martin's choice of subject and his painting technique emphasizes how the representation of labor and industry can be achieved through the materiality and process of painting itself. It encourages us to think about art in terms of both its making and its social context.