Marktszene

In this painting Hans Thoma combines an everyday scene with an opulent still life. The stage-like pictorial space is depicted at extreme close quarters. The right hand section of the picture is dominated by a woman, while behind her a village street in front of a blue sky, flooded in sunlight, extends into the depth of the picture. She is standing at a market stall in front of a room bathed in dark shadow. While the market-woman sitting in front of her stall offers the customer a chicken, a man, half concealed in shadow, leans on a basket following the women’s conversation.

One almost has the impression that the frozen calm radiating from the still life has also engulfed the statue-like figures. Thoma's works—initially landscapes, accompanied by increasing numbers of historical and mythological scenes in the 1880s—were extremely popular during his lifetime. The sober clarity of his everyday scenes, which could be understood by “everyman”, were much admired. It was the supposedly “German” aspect of the painter’s work, who was characterized as a “folk artist”, which was praised. This subsequently made it easier for the National Socialists to abuse him for their ends.