Saison D-octobre Recolte Des Pommes De Terre Jules Bastien-Lepage

The canvas presents a scene of rural labor during what appears to be autumn. A woman is centrally positioned, kneeling in a field strewn with freshly harvested potatoes. She holds a woven basket overflowing with the root vegetables, her gaze directed towards the viewer with an expression that seems both weary and resolute. The light catches on the folds of her apron, highlighting its texture and suggesting the physical demands of her work.
To her right, a younger girl is depicted in a similar posture, also gathering potatoes into a basket. Her face displays a more youthful innocence, though she too participates in the arduous task. Further back in the field, other figures are visible, engaged in the same activity, creating a sense of communal effort and shared experience.
The landscape itself contributes significantly to the painting’s atmosphere. A gently sloping hillside stretches into the distance, punctuated by scattered trees and a hazy horizon line. The sky is overcast, lending a muted quality to the light and suggesting an impending change in weather. The color palette is dominated by earthy tones – browns, greens, and yellows – which reinforce the connection to the land and the cycle of agricultural production.
Beyond the straightforward depiction of potato harvesting, the painting seems to explore themes of labor, resilience, and rural life. The woman’s posture and expression convey a sense of quiet dignity in the face of hardship. The inclusion of the younger girl suggests the transmission of traditions and values across generations. The vastness of the landscape emphasizes the scale of the work involved and the individuals place within a larger social and economic system. There is an underlying feeling of melancholy, perhaps reflecting on the cyclical nature of labor and the challenges faced by those who depend on it. The artist’s choice to focus on this specific moment in time – the harvest season – underscores its importance as a period of both abundance and intense exertion.