Repas servi aux troupes dans une allée des Champs-Elysées ou dans le parc de Saint-Cloud 1790

Hubert Robert painted this scene, “Repas servi aux troupes dans une allée des Champs-Elysées ou dans le parc de Saint-Cloud,” with oil on canvas. The artist's layered brushstrokes give the leaves and branches of the trees a sense of depth and movement. The materiality of the oil paint, with its capacity for blending and layering, creates a hazy, atmospheric quality, that softens the scene. You can almost feel the breeze rustling through the trees. The way the artist renders the figures – blurry and with soft edges – makes them look like a group. With this technique, Robert places an emphasis on labor and class within the work, suggesting that everyone is the same, by obscuring individual features and therefore status. Robert wasn't just representing a scene; he was using his mastery of materials and painting techniques to evoke a mood, and make a point about social hierarchy. This emphasis on materiality and making helps us appreciate Robert's skill, and the ways in which art can reflect wider social issues.