Farm Interior In The Berry 

Jules Dupré painted this view of a "Farm Interior In The Berry" using oil on canvas. The Berry region of France, south of Paris, was an agricultural heartland, and this image captures the rhythms of rural domestic life. During the 19th century, artists increasingly turned their attention to the lives of ordinary people. This was a reaction to the dominant academic style, which often focused on historical or mythological subjects. The image presents a wealth of material culture: hanging clothes, kitchen utensils, root vegetables, and even livestock. By focusing on such details, Dupré invites us to consider the material conditions of life for rural people in France. We might ask, how does the painting portray the labor involved in maintaining a household? To understand this work, we can consult agricultural records, social histories, and even cookbooks from the period. With the proper research tools, we might better understand how the artist’s decisions about what to include, and exclude, offer a particular commentary on the social structures of his time.