Leaving the Workshop: The Midinettes
Théophile Steinlen
1898. Charcoal, pastel, and chalk on paper. 50 × 63 cm. Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris, France.A study capturing Parisian seamstresses and milliners ("midinettes") on the street during their midday lunch break. Steinlen, a primary graphic recorder of working-class Paris at the turn of the century, presents the urban proletariat with clinical detachment rather than sentimentality. The graphic combination of charcoal and pastel permitted rapid capture of human motion and fabric values.
(source: commons.wikimedia.org)