Man Plowing (recto and verso) n.d.

Anton Mauve made this charcoal drawing, "Man Plowing," sometime in the late 19th century. Mauve lived during a time of significant social change, as industrialization transformed rural life across Europe. "Man Plowing" appears to offer a narrative of labor and the land. We see a man guiding two horses, likely a depiction of agricultural work, a subject often romanticized but which was often grueling. The focus isn't on an individual's triumph, but more on the harmony, or perhaps the struggle, between man and animal, and between them and the earth. There is an emotional quality in the drawing, perhaps a sense of solemnity. The muted tones and the deliberate strokes of charcoal capture the weight of the task at hand, and maybe the quiet dignity of rural existence. It leaves us pondering the relationship between humans, animals, and the land.