Harvester woman

Octav Bancilă (1872 –1944) was a Romanian realist painter, well known for his works depicting peasants and the rural agricultural works. He painted hundreds of portraits of people doing their most important and permanent activities, like field chores, harvesting etc., or resting and being melancholic. Also, Băncilă focused on women and their daily activities, such as washing clothes, spinning, carrying water or fishing. The artist used colour in order to project human vibration and attitude and, many times, wishing to highlight the physiognomy of his characters, Băncilă used a lot of ochre, reddish brown or brick colour, making some of his works reach an annoying visual shrillness. This is the case of this painting, Secerătoarea, which depicts a woman in the wheat field, with a melancholic expression on her face, while harvesting, holding a bunch of wheat threads in a hand and a sickle in the other.