Artwork
Peasants in a Field of Beans (Paysannes dans un champ de haricots)
Peasants in a Field of Beans (Paysannes dans un champ de haricots) is an ink print by the Impressionist artist Camille Pissarro. It dates from 1891 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Camille Pissarro’s 1891 print ‘Peasants in a Field of Beans’ (French ‘Paysannes dans un champ de haricots’) is executed as an etching combined with aquatint on zinc. The work measures a modest size typical of the period’s print editions and presents a quiet rural scene rendered in monochrome tones.
Subject & Meaning
The composition centers on two female laborers bent over a bean crop, their loose garments merging with the surrounding shadows. A thin line of trees marks the background, while a faint cross near the top hints at a distant horizon. The image emphasizes the anonymity and toil of agricultural workers in the late nineteenth‑century French countryside.
Technique & Style
Pissarro employs delicate, intersecting lines to suggest the texture of fabric and foliage, creating a woven visual effect. The aquatint washes provide subtle tonal gradations that soften the figures against the dark ground. The overall effect is sketch‑like rather than polished, reflecting a shift toward immediacy and observation in his printmaking practice.
History & Provenance
Produced in 1891, the etching was part of Pissarro’s later exploration of print media, a period when he sought to disseminate his rural subjects more widely. Original impressions were issued in limited numbers, and the work has since appeared in several public and private collections specializing in Impressionist prints.
Artist & collection
