A woman struggles up a hill, an infant in her arms and a toddler and a dog at her feet. Further figures are briefly indicated with only a few quick strokes of paint. Lépine settled in Montmartre in 1859, where he lived for the rest of his life. This is one of about 50 views of the streets of Montmartre that he painted. While Lépine's choice of subject and even the composition are close to paintings by Boudin, unlike Boudin, he chose to paint in the studio, working slowly from drawings and oil sketches done outside from nature. Lépine is usually classed as a Pre-Impressionist because of his use of grey tonalities. Here, however, his use of the broken brushstroke can be seen as Impressionist. Lépine participated in the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874 with three works.