Boer aan het werk, op de rug gezien c. 1884 - 1887

Curator: We’re now looking at "Boer aan het werk, op de rug gezien," or "Farmer at Work, Seen From the Back" by Willem Witsen, created around 1884-1887. It’s a drawing using pencil and pen. What are your immediate impressions? Editor: Somber, muted. The lines create a mood of hardship, of back-breaking labor. Even though it's just a sketch, it conveys the weight of agricultural life. Curator: Absolutely. Witsen’s technique, particularly the density of lines in the figure's clothing and back, accentuates the impression of strain and effort. Consider also the negative space. It is only partially worked. Editor: That hunched back immediately evokes a universal image, really. The sower, the gatherer… throughout history, the image of labor bending under the weight of providing. There’s something inherently symbolic there. Curator: Yes, the image speaks to this deep historical connection, but I want to push back. Are we overstating its gravitas? There is a lack of fine detail which moves me toward an interpretation where labor itself is rendered as a function or mechanical means for other artistic explorations. The figure may act as a point on a line that can become landscape and then perhaps not landscape. Editor: Possibly so. However, the choice of a farmer—rather than say, a factory worker or a bourgeois figure—points towards a visual vocabulary steeped in ideas of rootedness and honest toil that run deep in the culture of the period. These symbols persist even today. Curator: That may well be the case. It's fascinating how Witsen’s seemingly simple composition allows for such layered interpretations. The formal analysis certainly leaves me with more to consider regarding cultural symbolism here. Editor: Indeed. For me, considering the cultural symbols inherent in labor truly enriched my appreciation of Witsen's sketch.