August (one of a series representing the labors of the months) 1690

Curator: Oh, look at this drawing; it breathes the leisurely feeling of a hot summer day. Editor: Exactly! There’s something so…well, sun-drenched about it, even just rendered in reddish-brown ink. What’s the story behind it? Curator: This is "August", part of a series called "the labors of the months", created around 1690 by Jonas Umbach. It's a pen and ink drawing that now calls the Metropolitan Museum of Art home. Editor: "Labors" feels almost ironic looking at it! It’s mostly a scene of rest. Though, I suppose we see laborers harvesting in the fields beyond. I’m drawn to the women gathered under the trees. They seem to be the focal point; some are seated in rest while one holds what looks like a jug, maybe sharing water or wine. Curator: The interesting tension lies in juxtaposing their reprieve against the ongoing harvesting. Umbach gives us a peek into 17th-century rural life; a world still fundamentally rooted in the agricultural cycle. He positions the women within a socio-economic structure. Refreshment, rest – necessary respites funded, ironically, by their place within a system of labor. Editor: And isn't there also some festival or gathering going on in the background? Music and merriment! The layering here is subtle. Rest, labor, celebration all co-existing. There’s a political dimension too, perhaps, in showing these "labors" were part and parcel of human life. This is what provides stability. It reflects on ideas about social order. Curator: You are spot on. Art during this period was commissioned and consumed within social hierarchies, reinforcing those same structures of power and patronage. I would argue though it captures not only August, but all aspects of humanity from survival to joy. Editor: I suppose in a way, every artwork is doing some form of that. Though I must admit, for a piece focused on labor, it evokes a sense of blissful laziness… Curator: And maybe that's Umbach's genius – making us consider that sometimes the point of labor is to reach those moments of leisure, right? Editor: Perhaps, it makes me want to find my own cool spot under a tree on a hot August day.