Man met spade, mogelijk een heiwerker c. 1884 - 1887

"Man met spade, mogelijk een heiwerker," is a charcoal sketch by Willem Witsen, a prominent Dutch artist of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Created between 1884 and 1887, the work captures the essence of a laborer, likely a pile driver, bent over in exertion, his figure drawn with stark simplicity against a light background. The drawing, now housed in the Rijksmuseum, exemplifies Witsen's interest in depicting the lives of ordinary people and their relationship to the working world, a theme that characterized his artistic output.