The Potato Harvest, by Edith Martineau (1842-1909). Watercolour. "After the original water-colour, dated 1888, from a photograph kindly lent by the artist." Source: Sparrow 111. Kristina Huneault mentions this work as one of Martineau's "peasant genre scenes." The compostion is quite dramatic and atmospheric. The girl, who has paused in the midst of her labour to look at the wider view beyond it, reminds us now of the heroine of Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles, although the novel had yet to be published when the work was painted (it appeared in 1891).

Image acquisition and commentary Jacqueline Banerjee. You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and Project Gutenberg, and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite it in a print one.

Bibliography

Sparrow, Walter Shaw. Women Painters of the World, From the Time of Caterina Vigri, 1413-1463, to Rosa Bonheur and the Present Day. Internet Archive. Contributed by Project Gutenberg. Web. 22 December 2018.

Huneault, Kristina. "Martineau, Edith (1842–1909), watercolour painter." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Online Ed. Web. 21 December 2018.


Last modified 21 December 2018