Potato Harvest – (Ludwig Knaus) Previous Next


Artist:

Date: 1889

Size: 83 x 119 cm

Museum: Grohmann Museum (Milwaukee, United States)

Technique: Oil On Panel

Not only is this an outstanding painting by Ludwig Knaus, one of the most beloved artists of the German Romantic period, but it is also an examination of farm work as a family operation. Here, Knaus depicts a family harvesting potatoes, with no fewer than three generations represented. Father and grandmother till the soil, unearthing potatoes for harvest. They are joined by a younger woman and two small children, who scan the fresh tilling for tubers. In the foreground, another youngster tends to potatoes in a fire, baking them to provide food and energy for the weary workers. Beside her, mother holds an infant, offering a bit of potato as a snack or to sooth its teething. A log cart—tended by neighbors or possibly extended family—passes in the distance, leading the viewer’s eye to the village off in the distance.

This artwork is in the public domain.

Artist

Download

Click here to download

Permissions

Free for non commercial use. See below.

Public domain

This image (or other media file) is in the public domain because its copyright has expired. However - you may not use this image for commercial purposes and you may not alter the image or remove the watermark.

This applies to the United States, Canada, the European Union and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 70 years.


Note that a few countries have copyright terms longer than 70 years: Mexico has 100 years, Colombia has 80 years, and Guatemala and Samoa have 75 years. This image may not be in the public domain in these countries, which moreover do not implement the rule of the shorter term. Côte d'Ivoire has a general copyright term of 99 years and Honduras has 75 years, but they do implement that rule of the shorter term.