Figuren aan het werk op het land c. 1882 - 1884

Willem Witsen sketched these working figures with charcoal on paper. The stooped posture of the figures dominates this composition. The act of bending over, or bowing, carries immense symbolic weight across cultures. In many Eastern traditions, it signifies respect, humility, or reverence before the divine or those in positions of power. In contrast, within the context of labor, the bowed figure embodies the weight of toil and hardship. Consider, for instance, depictions of the burdened Atlas from antiquity, forever stooped under the weight of the world, a potent symbol of enduring strength and suffering. The cyclical nature of agricultural life, of bowing to plant and bowing to harvest, suggests a continuous return to the earth. This act of bowing becomes an unconscious expression of our connection to the land and the shared human experience of labor, a dance between man and nature that continues to resonate through the ages.