← all subjects

Ordinary days, closely watched

Everyday Life

The ordinary business of living. Bruegel's harvesters resting at noon, Vermeer's maid asleep at the table, Degas's woman at the ironing board, Cézanne's card players, Millet's woman with a rake, a Dutch couple over a hand of cards, a maharaja at a game of pachisi, and scholars at a game of go. Nobody here is posing for history.

67 pictures, pick one to build

Weavers, Tomb of Khnumhotep Norman de Garis Davies, ca. 1897–1878 B.C. Kiyomizu Komachi, from the series Futabagusa nana Komachi Kitagawa Utamaro, 1790s Young Man and Woman in an Inn Frans Hals, 1623 Sulking Edgar Degas, ca. 1870 Peasant Woman Cooking by a Fireplace Vincent van Gogh, 1885 The Yellow Room James McNeill Whistler, ca. 1883–84 The Harvesters Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1565 A Saint-Lazare par Aristide Bruant Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Sketch for a Painting of Scholars at the Game of Go Kano artist after Kano Tan'yū, dated 1666 The Tale of Genji Attributed to Kaihō Yūsetsu, 17th century Maharaja Sovan Singh playing pachisi Ambav, ca. 1868 Washerwomen François Boucher, 1768 A Woman Reading Camille Corot, 1869 and 1870 The Weeders Jules Breton, 1868 The Smokers Adriaen Brouwer, ca. 1636 The Letter Pietro Longhi (Pietro Falca), 1746 Nebamun Supervising Estate Activities, Tomb of Nebamun Charles K. Wilkinson ca. 1928–1930, 1928; original ca. 1396–1347 BCE The Dispatch-Bearer Alphonse-Marie-Adolphe de Neuville, 1880 Preparing for Christmas (Plucking Turkeys) Francis William Edmonds, 1851 After Ike no Taiga’s “Horse Market in a Mountain Village” Watanabe Kazan, 1820s Anna Dwight Weir Reading a Letter Julian Alden Weir, ca. 1890 Night Rain at the Double-Shelf Stand, from the series Eight Parlor Views (Zashiki hakkei) Suzuki Harunobu, ca. 1766 Market by the Seashore Salomon van Ruysdael, 1637 A Woman Ironing Edgar Degas, 1873 The Mower Georges Seurat, 1881–82 For the Little One William Merritt Chase, ca. 1896 The Alchemist Pieter Bruegel the Elder, after 1558 Roman Interior Jean Honoré Fragonard, ca. 1760 Going to Market Constant Troyon, 1860 Grandmother's Treasure Jozef Israëls Carpenter Making a Chair, Tomb of Rekhmire Nina de Garis Davies, ca. 1479–1396 BCE Young Husband: First Marketing Lilly Martin Spencer, 1854 Brewing Tea in the Shade of Trees Aoki Mokubei, 1820s The Willow Shell (Yanagi-kai), from an Untitled Set of Beauty Prints on the Theme of Shells Chōbunsai Eishi, ca. 1791 Leisure Time in an Elegant Setting Pieter de Hooch, ca. 1663–65 On the Beach at Trouville Eugène Boudin, 1863 The Card Players Paul Cézanne, 1890–92 The Veteran in a New Field Winslow Homer, 1865 Allegory of Vigilance Jean Honoré Fragonard, ca. 1772 The Letter Camille Corot, ca. 1865 A Man Reading in a Garden (recto); Preliminary sketch for a Man Reading in a Garden (verso) Honoré Daumier, ca. 1865 Men Gathering Papyrus Hugh R. Hopgood, 1914–1916; original ca. 1473–1458 BCE Cider Making William Sidney Mount, 1840–41 Orchid Pavilion Gathering; Autumn Harvest Festival Ike no Taiga, ca. 1763 Curiosity Gerard ter Borch the Younger, ca. 1660–62 The Harvest, Pontoise (La Récolte, Pontoise) Camille Pissarro, 1881 The Siesta Paul Gauguin, ca. 1892–94 Snap the Whip Winslow Homer, 1872 The Love Letter Jean Honoré Fragonard, early 1770s Woman with a Rake Jean-François Millet, probably 1856–57 Long Island Farmhouses William Sidney Mount, 1862–63 A Young Woman at Her Toilet with a Maid Gerard ter Borch the Younger, ca. 1650–51 Variations in Violet and Grey—Market Place, Dieppe James McNeill Whistler, 1885 Shepherdess Seated on a Rock Jean-François Millet, 1856 Corn Husking at Nantucket Eastman Johnson, ca. 1875 A Woman Playing the Theorbo-Lute and a Cavalier Gerard ter Borch the Younger, ca. 1658 Study in a Wood Daniel Huntington, 1861 The Raffle (Raffling for the Goose) William Sidney Mount, 1837 Interior of a Kitchen Willem Kalf, ca. 1642–44 Figure in Hammock, Florida John Singer Sargent, 1917 A Couple Playing Cards, with a Serving Woman Pieter de Hooch, ca. 1665–75 A Maid Asleep Johannes Vermeer, ca. 1656–57 St. Jerome Reading in an Italian Landscape Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn), ca. 1653 Young Woman Peeling Apples Nicolaes Maes, ca. 1655 Interior with a Young Couple Pieter de Hooch, probably ca. 1662–65 A Woman and Two Men in an Arbor Pieter de Hooch, ca. 1657–58 The Lacemaker Nicolaes Maes, ca. 1656