Artwork
The Homework Table
The Homework Table is a photography by the Impressionist artist Unknown. It dates from 1859 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
About this work
Overview
The photograph entitled The Homework Table captures five children gathered around a table covered with an ornate cloth. The youths are formally attired—girls in dark dresses and boys in suits with bow ties—and their expressions are focused as they attend to an unseen object on the surface.
Subject & Meaning
The composition suggests a moment of concentrated study or collaborative work, conveyed by the children's serious demeanor and close proximity. The formal dress and solemn faces underscore themes of discipline and the ritual of learning.
Technique & Style
The image employs a dark, subdued background that isolates the group, highlighting the patterned tablecloth and the subjects’ attire. The lighting emphasizes texture and contrast, lending a formal, almost staged quality to the scene.
History & Provenance
The photograph is part of the Cleveland Museum of Art’s collection, indicating its acquisition by the institution and its inclusion in the museum’s holdings of photographic works.
Artist & collection
Domestic Scene
Giacomo and Cardinal Marco, investing Andrea, Abbot of San Zeno, with his Benefice
The Nymph of Fontainebleau
Portrait of a Woman
Madonna and Child with Saints in the Enclosed Garden
Venus and Minerva
Family Group of Four on Sofa
Wall painting from Room H of the Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale
Mother with son with blind right eye
Standing boy with bottle curls
Girl with Doll
The Music Teacher and His Wife
Boy with Cigar
English family of seven
Brother and sister clasping hands
The Allen Children
The Younger Generation
Seated boy in tasseled cap
Young Woman in Pantalettes
The Homework Table & Parents of Five Children Doing Homework