Lot Essay
Liebermann was fascinated by Holland. He made his first trip there in 1872 and returned on numerous occasions for years afterwards. He was inspired by the openness and flatness of the terrain and constantly discovered new motifs for his paintings. As his trips to Holland were often short and sporadic he was able to maintain an objective point of view on all he saw there. One of his favourite themes was peasants engaged in everyday chores such as plucking gees, repairing nets or - as in the present work - harvesting potatoes. During the 1890s Liebermann executed a series of oils, pastels and drawings in which he depicted men and women engaged in potato harvesting and where he tried to express in different ways the idea of man becoming one with the earth.