Stacking the Oak Fence 

David Bates’s “Stacking the Oak Fence” captures workers immersed in manual labor, likely painted in the late 19th century. The artwork depicts laborers stacking oak fence sections, their bodies bent in repetitive motions. Bates uses visible brushstrokes to convey the physicality of the scene. The painting's muted tones reflect the grit of labor and the earthiness of the landscape. The oak fence, rendered with a craftsman’s attention to its texture and weight, becomes a symbol of both division and construction. The fence sections are of a standard size, suggesting an emerging industrial influence on agricultural practices. The workers, silhouetted against the horizon, become part of the landscape as they assemble this barrier. Bates challenges traditional distinctions between fine art and craft by focusing on the often-overlooked work that sustains daily life. This painting elevates the act of fence construction to a subject worthy of artistic attention, blurring the lines between labor, art, and the social context in which they exist.