Ploughing 1915

Editor: Here we have Stefan Dimitrescu's "Ploughing," painted in 1915. It's an oil painting with an impressionistic style that I find instantly calming – the gentle colours and soft brushstrokes really give it a pastoral, serene feeling. What strikes you when you look at this work? Curator: Ah, Dimitrescu! He's one of those artists who manages to capture the light *just so*, isn’t he? Look how the sun seems to bathe those oxen in a soft glow. I am fascinated by the fact that he chose such a humble subject. Instead of heroic battles, or aristocratic portraits, he paints the daily grind. The feel of the earth, the steady labour… Does it remind you of anything? Editor: Well, now that you mention it, the simple rural scene does have an almost timeless quality. Like it could be happening at any point in history. Curator: Exactly! There is a cyclical rhythm, you know? Birth, growth, harvest…death and rebirth. These peasants with their plough become everyman and everywoman! It isn’t simply about ploughing a field, but it symbolizes hard work that binds humanity and the eternal struggle for life. Dimitrescu is actually making the statement, ‘I understand something.’ Can you feel it? Editor: I hadn't really considered that, but seeing the painting as a larger meditation on life and labour makes a lot of sense. It goes beyond just documenting a rural scene. Curator: Precisely. I’m glad that helped. These genre paintings often say so much more than we think! So the next time you look at any work, let's you and I ask *ourselves*, what statement the artist making? Editor: Will do! It's incredible how much I've missed until now.