Man Plowing (recto and verso)
n.d.
Medium
Black chalk, with white chalk, brush and gray wash, and touches of stumping, on grayish-tan wove paper
Dimensions
29.2 × 45.3 cm (11 1/2 × 17 7/8 in.)
Classification
chalk
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
112767
Art Historical Context
Anton Mauve's *Man Plowing (rect and verso)* captures the quiet dignity of rural labor in a delicate drawing executed on both sides of a grayish-tan w paper. Created in black chalk heightened with white chalk, brush and gray wash, and subtle stumping for soft blending, this undated work measures 29.2 × 45.3 cm and Mauve's mastery of mixed media. As a leading figure in the Hague School—a late 19th-century Dutch movement inspired by French Barbizon painters—Mauve celebrated everyday countryside scenes with a realistic touch, emphasizing atmosphere and natural light over idealization. The recto ...
About the Artist
Anton Mauve · 1838–1888
Anton Mauve (1838–1888), born Anthonij Rudolf Mauve in Zaandam, Netherlands, hailed from a family of North Holland clergymen. At age 16, he apprenticed under animal painter Pieter Frederik van Os in Haarlem, mastering depictions of livestock, before studying briefly with Wouterus Verschuur, whose equine subjects instilled a lifelong affinity for horses. He honed his plein air technique alongside P...