The finest characteristic of modern art is its sympathy.
- Pierre-Édouard Frère, quoted in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, November, 1871

Pierre-Édouard Frère was a Realist painter who became the leader of the "sympathetic art" movement in France, a vein of Realism which sensitively portrayed the lower classes with dignity and charm, glorifying the simplicity of their lives and their work. While many Realists focused on the gritty spectacles of the streets of Paris, Frère became especially known for his sympathetic portraits of women, and especially young children, completing daily household chores and other domestic activities. This form of art had its origins in the eighteenth century French painting by such artists ...