Why comes he not? 1866

Jehan Georges Vibert created "Why comes he not?" during an era of significant social change and cultural shifts in 19th-century France. Vibert's painting offers a window into the social expectations and gender roles of the time. Here, we see two women, one peering expectantly out of a window, the other sitting forlornly on a table, seemingly waiting for a man. What does it mean to wait? What does it mean to be kept waiting? The painting subtly unpacks the constraints placed upon women of the period, whose lives were often circumscribed by expectations of courtship and marriage. Vibert, through this domestic scene, touches on the emotional and psychological dimensions of waiting, of anticipation, and perhaps, of disappointment. This artwork captures a moment of suspended animation, laden with unspoken desires and social expectations.