Woman and Child Resting, a Man Working in the Field Beyond

Jan Toorop

1898 · Graphite, watercolor, white gouache · Drawings and Prints

A young girl sits under a tree cradling a baby as a man works a field in the background. She seems young to have a child and gazes off into the distance with a look of melancholy that is echoed by the desolate landscape and the grasping branches of the tree that frame it. Like The Hague School artists who preceded him, Toorop was fascinated by the impoverished fishermen and farmers in Dutch seaside villages and the countryside. While other artists idealized these figures, Toorop depicted them through a bleak lens reminiscent of Van Gogh’s early renderings of peasants.

Artist

Jan Toorop

Date

1898

Medium

Graphite, watercolor, white gouache

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Gift of Eric Gillis, 2012