View of Labastide du Vert 

Henri Martin created this view of Labastide du Vert, presumably in France, using oil paint sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century. The setting itself is rural, dominated by green vegetation, and depicts a humble building, possibly a cottage. The impressionistic brushstrokes give us a sense of how French artists at that time, such as Martin, were exploring the formal qualities of painting. It's a very progressive style, moving away from the detailed realism that was so prized by the French academies. We can also see how it fits into a wider cultural context, with many artists turning their attention to the French countryside. We might ask if there was something in French political history, perhaps a burgeoning sense of nationalism, that made this kind of subject matter attractive. Or maybe the rise of the middle class created a market for idealized scenes of French rural life. To explore these questions, we might look at exhibition records and art criticism from the period. By studying these historical resources, we can start to see how art both reflects and shapes social values.