The Hunt
1897
Fernand Cormon transports us straight to the Stone Age in this gritty scene of prehistoric survival. A rugged hunter clutches his bow and stares skyward, while a woman clings to his back, gesturing frantically as if spotting prey or danger on the horizon. The raw, monochromatic texture emphasizes the harshness of their world, far from the polished salons of 19th-century Paris. Cormon was actually obsessed with early anthropology and set up a studio filled with fossils and bones to teach students like Van Gogh how to paint 'real' history.
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