Fodder Chopper c. 1947

Bernard Joseph Steffen made this print, “Fodder Chopper,” using color lithograph. It's farmers' toil, shown through the close vantage point of green corn stalks towering over them. I wonder about Steffen making it: did he aim to show labor, or an image of the immensity of nature? The lithographic texture gives the print a certain weight, and the flat application of color, creates a sense of immediacy, of being right there in the cornfield. The choice of cool greens and blues gives the print a contemplative mood, even though the farmer is actively working. There’s something touching about how we're positioned so close to this figure, nearly cropped out of the frame, yet centered. Steffen seems to celebrate the ordinary tasks of rural life. It feels like a moment of quiet observation, a pause to appreciate the simple beauty of the everyday. In the act of depicting it, Steffen elevates the mundane to something meaningful.