Omnibus I

Zorn's painting Omnibus is a fleeting image of modern urban life, where people from different social classes meet in new ways. Zorn travelled regularly by omnibus from his home in Montmartre, Paris, merely to study the passengers. As the bus rolled through the city, the light changed constantly inside. Electric streetlights had recently been installed in Paris – and the mixture of artificial and natural light created new and unexpected effects that Zorn tried to capture on canvas. It is hardly surprising that contemporary critics described Omnibus as “ultra-modern”.