work
Ford Madox Brown
The painting Work by Ford Madox Brown is an excellent example of different social classes together in one painting. He worked on the painting from 1852 to 1865. Brown used the setting of The Mount on Heath Street, Hampstead, London. He took his canvas there every day to paint the scene.
The first thing you notice when looking at the painting is the construction workers. They are the working class in the painting. Even though they are not wealthy their clothes are not worn out and frayed. They work and have a decent living. In front of the construction workers children from a lower class can be seen. Their clothing is old and torn. On the left side of the painting there is a woman carrying plants. She is barefoot and wears old, torn clothes. She also represents the lower class. Behind her there are two other women. From their clothing you can tell that they are middle class people. Behind the construction workers there is a man drinking something. It is hard to tell which class he can be classified as. He has money for a drink and decent clothing but he is not as fancy as the wealthy people are. He is probably middle class. On the right side of the painting are two well dressed men leaning on a railing. They are watching the workers do their work and the lower class people in the scene. You could assume that they are wealthy because they are well dressed and they are just standing around like they don't have to worry about working. To the right of the men it looks like people are sleeping in a ditch or something. They are definitely lower class. At the back of the painting there are two people on horses. They belong to the highest class. Both are very well dressed and the fact that they own horses shows that they have the money to take care of them and a lot of land for the horses. It is symbolic that they are the highest people in the painting because they are the highest class.
This painting illustrates all social classes. The very rich, the wealthy but not extremely rich, the middle class, and the lowest class are all included. The social classes are easy to see and clearly defined.
http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/ford-madox-browns- work.html - Picture
The first thing you notice when looking at the painting is the construction workers. They are the working class in the painting. Even though they are not wealthy their clothes are not worn out and frayed. They work and have a decent living. In front of the construction workers children from a lower class can be seen. Their clothing is old and torn. On the left side of the painting there is a woman carrying plants. She is barefoot and wears old, torn clothes. She also represents the lower class. Behind her there are two other women. From their clothing you can tell that they are middle class people. Behind the construction workers there is a man drinking something. It is hard to tell which class he can be classified as. He has money for a drink and decent clothing but he is not as fancy as the wealthy people are. He is probably middle class. On the right side of the painting are two well dressed men leaning on a railing. They are watching the workers do their work and the lower class people in the scene. You could assume that they are wealthy because they are well dressed and they are just standing around like they don't have to worry about working. To the right of the men it looks like people are sleeping in a ditch or something. They are definitely lower class. At the back of the painting there are two people on horses. They belong to the highest class. Both are very well dressed and the fact that they own horses shows that they have the money to take care of them and a lot of land for the horses. It is symbolic that they are the highest people in the painting because they are the highest class.
This painting illustrates all social classes. The very rich, the wealthy but not extremely rich, the middle class, and the lowest class are all included. The social classes are easy to see and clearly defined.
http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/ford-madox-browns- work.html - Picture