A master of watercolor, Henri Joseph Harpignies used the transparency of the medium to create a bright and free style for his pictures of cloudy skies, forests, and Paris streets. His lively sense of observation is evident in this amusing study, which pokes fun at the activity of painting outdoors (en plein air) popularized by the Barbizon school. The scene depicts an artist who cannot complete his work because of the interested children crowding him. By the time this work was created, painting en plein air was extremely popular with artists and the general public alike.