Clare leighton, farming, wedgwood plate 1952

摘要

The densely wooded and rounded hills of Vermont, USA's 49th most populous state, form the backcloth to this beautiful yet simple depiction of a solitary farmer harvesting wheat. Feet planted widely and firmly on the fertile ground, he leans into his work confidently sweeping his 'grain-cradle' scythe through the lush ripe cereal. We can feel the rhythm, hear the swish and smell the 'wondrous new-mown grain' 1. He wears a wide-brimmed straw hat to protect himself from the afternoon sun and some sturdy steel-capped boots to safeguard his toes from the super-sharp slicer. The artist, 'intoxicated with the beauty and universal nobility' 1 of the farmer's sickle, pitchfork and flail, has emblazoned them on the foreground together with a corked stone jug no doubt full of cider. The wheat field stretches out behind the worker;