Fine Art Poster
From $39
A giclée print on 200gsm matte fine art paper, using a twelve-colour process for accurate, fade-resistant colour. Supplied unframed, delivered flat or rolled.
Work (Le Travail) - Pierre Puvis de Chavannes
Regular price
$39.00 USD
Sale price
$39.00 USD
Regular price
Archival giclée
Frames arrive ready to hang
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Made to order
Description
A monumental allegorical scene by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, depicting figures engaged in primitive labour and domestic life with a muted, decorative aesthetic.
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes produced this large-scale composition, titled Work (Le Travail), as a companion piece to his painting Peace (La Paix). The work depicts a scene of primitive industry, where figures are engaged in the fundamental tasks of forging, woodcutting, and construction. The artist employs a muted, chalky palette that is characteristic of his mural-style aesthetic, which prioritises decorative harmony over realistic depth. The figures are arranged in a frieze-like manner across the foreground, creating a sense of stillness despite the physical exertion portrayed.
In the centre, men gather around an anvil, their bodies rendered with a simplified, sculptural quality. To the left, a figure wields an axe against a fallen log, while in the lower right corner, a mother and child rest, providing a contrast to the surrounding labour. The background features a calm sea and distant hills, rendered in soft blues and greys that unify the composition. Puvis de Chavannes avoids dramatic lighting or excessive detail, opting instead for a balanced, rhythmic arrangement of forms that suggests a timeless, almost mythic quality to human activity.
This painting reflects the artist's interest in the monumental tradition of mural decoration. He often sought to integrate his works into the architectural space, using flat planes of colour and clear outlines to maintain the integrity of the wall surface. The scene does not aim for historical accuracy, but rather presents an idealised vision of human cooperation and the development of civilisation. By stripping away specific temporal markers, the artist invites the viewer to consider the universal nature of labour and the domestic life that accompanies it. The composition remains a primary example of his ability to combine classical structure with a modern, symbolic sensibility, influencing many subsequent artists who moved away from the rigid academic standards of the nineteenth century.
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Each print is produced to order using 12-colour giclée printing on FSC-certified archival paper. Designed in Britain and printed at your nearest production hub to reduce waste and speed up delivery.
Care and materials
Specific Features
Every Solis piece is made to order with archival, gallery-quality materials built to last.
- Museum-grade giclée printing for rich, fade-resistant colour
- Archival matte fine-art paper, FSC-certified
- Multiple sizes and framing options available
- Frames in black, natural wood, dark wood or white
- Framed prints arrive ready to hang
Care & Cleaning
To keep your artwork looking its best:
- Dust gently with a soft, dry cloth
- Avoid prolonged direct sunlight
- Never use liquid cleaners on the print or canvas surface
- Keep in a dry, room-temperature space
- Handle prints with clean, dry hands
Materials & Sizing
Museum-grade giclée on FSC-certified archival matte paper, with framed and canvas options.
- Paper sizes: A4, A3, A2, A1, A0 and B2 (50×70 cm)
- Canvas: XS (20×30 cm) to Large (60×90 cm)
- Frames: black, natural wood, dark wood or white
Complete The Look
Work (Le Travail) - Pierre Puvis de Chavannes
Regular price
From $39.00 USD
Sale price
From $39.00 USD
Regular price
Fine Art Poster / Small Square (30x30 cm) / -
Artist Biography
Pierre Puvis De Chavannes
Puvis de Chavannes painted murals for the Boston Public Library without ever visiting Boston. He worked from marble samples and architectural models shipped to his Paris studio, matching pale fresco-like colours to a building he would never enter. The library got eight stairway murals. Boston got a painter who did not need to see a place to understand it.
He was born in Lyon in 1824, the son of a mining engineer from an old Burgundian noble family. He added the ancestral "de Chavannes" to his name himself. A serious illness interrupted his planned engineering career; a trip to Italy redirected him toward painting. Back in Paris he studied briefly under Delacroix, then under Henri Scheffer and Thomas Couture, but developed a style that owed little to any of them: simplified forms, rhythmic outlines, muted colour that imitated the appearance of fresco, applied to large allegorical subjects drawn from antiquity and French history.
His murals at the Pantheon in Paris (begun 1874, depicting the life of Saint Genevieve) and at town halls, churches and civic buildings across France earned him the informal title "the painter for France". The technique was not true fresco but oil on canvas affixed to the wall (marouflage), which allowed him to work in his studio. The pale, flattened surfaces influenced an unlikely range of successors: Seurat studied his compositions, Gauguin absorbed his flat colour planes, Maurice Denis built Nabi theory partly on his example, and Picasso's Blue Period owes something to his chalky palette.
From 1856 he was in a relationship with the Romanian princess Marie Cantacuzene. They were together for forty years, marrying only shortly before both died in 1898.
He was born in Lyon in 1824, the son of a mining engineer from an old Burgundian noble family. He added the ancestral "de Chavannes" to his name himself. A serious illness interrupted his planned engineering career; a trip to Italy redirected him toward painting. Back in Paris he studied briefly under Delacroix, then under Henri Scheffer and Thomas Couture, but developed a style that owed little to any of them: simplified forms, rhythmic outlines, muted colour that imitated the appearance of fresco, applied to large allegorical subjects drawn from antiquity and French history.
His murals at the Pantheon in Paris (begun 1874, depicting the life of Saint Genevieve) and at town halls, churches and civic buildings across France earned him the informal title "the painter for France". The technique was not true fresco but oil on canvas affixed to the wall (marouflage), which allowed him to work in his studio. The pale, flattened surfaces influenced an unlikely range of successors: Seurat studied his compositions, Gauguin absorbed his flat colour planes, Maurice Denis built Nabi theory partly on his example, and Picasso's Blue Period owes something to his chalky palette.
From 1856 he was in a relationship with the Romanian princess Marie Cantacuzene. They were together for forty years, marrying only shortly before both died in 1898.
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Fine Art Framed
From $119
The same fine art print in a solid wood frame with UV-protective acrylic glaze and rigid backing. Five frame colours. Arrives ready to hang.
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