Ploughing 1883

"Ploughing" is a conté crayon drawing on paper, created by Georges Seurat around the 1880s. Seurat, working in France during the late 19th century, was interested in the scientific principles of color and perception. Here, the figures appear as silhouettes, anonymous laborers against the landscape. We might consider how the use of shadow flattens and obscures, reflecting the often invisible labor of agricultural workers. Ploughing evokes both the beauty and the harshness of rural life. It prompts reflection on labor, class, and the relationship between people and the land. While Seurat's better known works employ a technique of pointillism that emphasizes color, this drawing relies on a striking contrast between light and shadow. This contrast, coupled with the subject matter, underscores a tension between the personal experiences of agricultural life and a more generalized representation of labor. The drawing asks us to consider the human cost of labor and the social structures that shape our relationship to the land.