Workers of the Soil c. 1932

Curator: John Costigan's charcoal drawing, "Workers of the Soil," created around 1932, depicts a rural family against a stark landscape. It’s social realism, and its emotional weight is undeniable. Editor: Heavy, isn't it? Like the sky’s about to fall. The texture in the clouds, the rough, scratchy marks creating form... it all points to a world bearing down on these figures. Makes me think about burden and resilience. Curator: Costigan’s work frequently explored themes of rural life and the dignity of labor. What I find interesting here is how the figures blend into the environment. Editor: Blending but also resisting, I think. Their clothes suggest poverty, hard labor. The mother holds a child close, a fragile symbol of hope against the looming dark skies. We have to understand this within the larger context of economic exploitation and disenfranchisement. Curator: There’s a universality, too, though. I see echoes of Millet in the subject matter and, in the dramatic use of light and shadow, perhaps a nod to the Old Masters. But there’s a stark rawness that is very Costigan. The lone, leafless tree only seems to amplify this atmosphere. Editor: Absolutely. Costigan is pulling from established visual rhetoric to build something explicitly about class and the land. It's a subtle yet insistent commentary. Look how the mother in the left foreground becomes a central anchor—the compositional linchpin. What does her positionality as a woman signify within this framework? Is this gendered labor? How does that shape how we perceive this scene? Curator: I am so drawn to the hands in this piece, those rugged hands speak to an honest depiction of life. He somehow captures that reality without sentimentality. Editor: I’d agree. This piece transcends time, speaking to persistent questions about social inequalities and environmental pressures, issues that demand ongoing activist engagement. I leave this artwork pondering these themes, how it still informs struggles around race, class, and access today. Curator: It reminds me how our ancestors before us have persevered and triumphed—an inspirational message to all.