Gravende heiwerker c. 1884 - 1887

Willem Witsen created this sketch of a digging peat worker. The image transports us to the Netherlands, a landscape shaped by both natural beauty and demanding labor. Witsen lived during a time of increasing industrialization, but here he focuses on the traditional, manual work of a peat digger. Consider how class is at play here, with the artist observing and documenting a laborer whose daily life would have been markedly different from his own. What does it mean to depict this figure with such a direct, unromanticized gaze? How do these elements influence our understanding of labor, identity, and representation in the late 19th century? It’s a somber reflection on the lives of those whose toil literally fueled a nation.