Houses at La Hulpe 

Georges Lemmen, a Belgian artist, painted ‘Houses at La Hulpe’ with small strokes of oil paint to create this landscape. Lemmen's technique, known as pointillism, involves meticulously applying dots of pure color that blend in the viewer's eye. This was a labor-intensive process, reflecting the broader context of industrialization where repetitive tasks were increasingly common. The application of paint in a systematic way mirrors the kind of work being carried out on factory floors at the time. The colors he uses create a vibrant scene of rural life, almost idealized. But it is also worth considering the social and economic backdrop to this image. Was he presenting an escape from urban life, or reflecting on changing ideas of home? By emphasizing the technique and the social context in which it was made, we see how the artist’s choices are tied to wider issues of labor, politics, and consumption, and how these all contribute to the artwork's meaning.