The Lesson of the apprentice 
*oil on canvas 
*102 x 82 cm 
*signed b.r.: Eug Buland 88

Un Patron or the Lesson of the ApprenticeJean-Eugène Buland, 1888

Jean-Eugène Buland (1852-1926) was a French painter who began his career painting historic scenes, but soon changed tack to favour scenes of everyday life. He achieved a dramatic sense of realism by painting from photographs. His paintings are often seen to use theatrical lighting that makes the subjects appear to pop out of the canvas in a convincingly three-dimensional way.

Attribution

Jean-Eugène Buland [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Wrap Up Your Painting

  • Is this painting depicting the era in which it was painted, or another era?
  • Did you think the person you chose to look at was isolated or interacting with the other people in the painting?
  • What event would you have liked to visit on this person?
  • How might it change the way the painter depicted the scene in your imagination?
  • How do you feel now you’ve completed this activity? If you enjoyed it, why not add more Look at Paintings audio guides to your week? And don’t forget, you can take these guides with you to your local gallery and try them whilst standing in front of ‘real life’ art