Return of the Peasants 

Alphonse Legros made this drawing, Return of the Peasants, using graphite on paper. Instead of traditional art materials like oil paints, Legros chose humble materials, graphite and paper, mirroring his subject matter. The delicate graphite lines create a scene of rural life. You can see a group of peasants, their bodies bent with toil, returning from the fields. The texture of the paper adds a subtle roughness, enhancing the earthy feel of the drawing. The softness of the graphite allows for a range of tones, capturing the light and shadows on the figures and landscape. Legros engaged with a long tradition of drawing, using his skill to depict the everyday lives of the working class. The amount of work involved in depicting the field laborers, the drawing’s linear hatching, and the artist’s choice to render the scene in monochrome, evokes the hardships of rural labor, highlighting the social context of his time. By focusing on the materials and processes, we can appreciate how Legros elevated a simple scene of labor into a powerful artistic statement.