During Haying 

Efim Volkov painted this landscape, called "During Haying," some time in the late 19th century. Volkov emerged as a landscape painter during a transformative period in Russia, marked by social reforms and intellectual ferment. This painting offers a glimpse into the agrarian life of the Russian peasantry. The image captures a moment of rural labor: a horse pulling a cart laden with hay, figures in the distance, with cut bundles of wheat standing like silent witnesses to the work. The painting evokes a sense of the cyclical nature of agricultural life. But whose life? Land ownership was a huge issue in Russia, and this scene also evokes the backbreaking labor demanded of the serfs who worked the land. Volkov exhibited widely and was known for his commitment to representing the Russian landscape with empathy and realism. "During Haying" continues to resonate as a meditation on labor, land, and the lives of those who toiled in the fields.