Nightfall (The Gleaners) 1895

"Nightfall (The Gleaners)" by Henry Herbert La Thangue is a captivating oil painting created in 1895. It depicts a group of women working in a field, their figures silhouetted against the twilight sky with a rising moon. The central figure, a woman carrying a large bundle of wheat, is illuminated by the moon, her face obscured in shadow. The painting's somber palette and atmospheric light create a sense of solitude and the weariness of hard labor, echoing themes of rural life and social realism popular in late 19th-century art. La Thangue's masterful brushwork and detailed depiction of the women's clothing and the landscape evoke a sense of authenticity and realism.