Labourers 1781

Editor: This is George Stubbs's "Labourers," painted in 1781, using oil on canvas. It depicts laborers with a horse-drawn cart, and there's almost a neoclassical stillness to the scene. What strikes me is the contrast between the dark forest and the classical building in the background. What do you make of it? Curator: The contrasting elements highlight the complex socio-economic context of 18th-century England. Note Stubbs’s attention to the physicality of labor, evident in the rendering of muscles of the men and the horses – they are instruments within a capitalist, colonial project. Consider the landscape itself: the dark, seemingly uncultivated woods, compared to the classical architecture and organized enclosure behind. Editor: So, you're saying the materials depicted - the wood, the animal labor, even the oil paints used to create it - are connected to broader systems of labor and ownership at the time? Curator: Precisely! Think about where those materials originated, the social relations that shaped their extraction and production. Who profited from that building and how did these labourers benefit from that edifice. These figures represent specific cogs in a capitalist structure, with emphasis given to their use as essential production devices. What's the relationship between raw materials and labor for Stubbs? Editor: That’s a fascinating point. It seems like he’s consciously depicting that relationship, making us aware of the resources and efforts that underpin the wealthy patron’s life in the background. The figures almost blend in with the landscape... Curator: Yes, a part of it, literally. Their materiality merges with the other elements of the natural resources available at hand. Do you now see this image within the wider structure of power? Editor: Absolutely! It makes me consider how Stubbs’ choices of medium and subject matter engage with these social realities and contribute to our understanding of labour’s role. I'll never look at a landscape the same way again!