Drie aardappelrooiers c. 1887

Editor: This is "Three Potato Harvesters," a print by Willem Witsen, dating from around 1887. It's currently at the Rijksmuseum. The overall impression is quite somber, almost melancholic, wouldn't you say? What story do you think Witsen is trying to tell here? Curator: Somber indeed. But perhaps melancholic beauty? For me, it whispers of the quiet dignity of labor, the bending of bodies to the earth. It is not romantic, but there’s something in the subtle gradation of light, in the stoic curve of their backs, that stirs a strange reverence within me. Doesn't it strike you as a mirror reflecting our own cyclical relationship with the earth, the reaping and the sowing of our own lives? Editor: That’s interesting, I hadn’t thought of it that way. I was focused on the seeming hardship, but the cyclical nature makes a lot of sense. Curator: Hardship is certainly a note sounded in its composition. But I can almost smell the damp earth, feel the yielding potato under the worn fingers, hear the sighs… Witsen has evoked this sense of lived existence, no? Perhaps, it speaks not only of labor, but also of what gives flavor to it? Don't you perceive the quiet grace woven into it? Editor: I think I get what you're saying. It's not just about the difficulty, but maybe about finding a sort of…peace in the work itself? It feels like the artist is inviting us to reflect on how labor gives meaning to our lives. Curator: Exactly! It is finding beauty in unexpected places, isn't it? Perhaps this little dance of shadows has taught us something profound, reminding us there can be more to life than what meets the eye.