Potato Harvest

Potato Harvest joins Ludwig Knaus’ Behind the Scenes and Magician in the Barn in this feature of Masterworks from the Grohmann Museum. Not only is this an outstanding painting by one of the most beloved artists of the German Romantic period, it is also an examination of farm work as a family operation. Here, Knaus depicts a family harvesting potatoes, with no fewer than three generations represented.

Father and grandmother till the soil, unearthing potatoes for harvest. They are joined by a younger woman and two small children, who scan the fresh tilling for tubers. In the foreground, another youngster tends to potatoes in a fire, baking them to provide food and energy for the weary workers. Beside her, mother holds an infant, offering a bit of potato as a snack or to sooth its teething. A log cart—tended by neighbors or possibly extended family—passes in the distance, leading the viewer’s eye to the village off in the distance.