Le Pont Charraud, Creuse c. 1898

Armand Guillaumin created "Le Pont Charraud, Creuse," an oil on canvas, sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century. He was one of the lesser-known figures of French Impressionism, a movement which, at its most ambitious, sought to revolutionize academic painting. Guillaumin's painting offers a vision of the French countryside, seemingly untouched by industrialization, where figures walk the paths between rural villages. But we must remember that such images were made for an increasingly urban audience, who were nostalgic for a rural past even as they embraced modernity. The art market catered to this sentimentality. To understand Guillaumin, it is useful to understand the workings of the Parisian art world, the dealer system, and the rise of Impressionism as the quintessential modern style. Art history relies on archival research, market analysis, and an understanding of the social and economic forces that shape artistic production.