This pastel by Léon Lhermitte presents itself as a silent meditation on the harvest. Far from the narrative, collective scenes of his large paintings admired at the Musée d’Orsay, the artist opts for intimacy, painting from life and celebrating the work accomplished by the peasants.
Lhermitte favors pastel to convey the rough texture of the straw on paper and the warmth of the earth through rubbing and dry impasto. Browns, ochres, and muted greens answer the pale touches of the sky, creating this natural harmony.

The overall composition is based on the rhythm created by the repetition of the haystacks, while the dark band of trees fills the horizon under a low, slanting light that enhances the contrasts. The Harvested Field bears witness to the artist’s naturalistic talent, which informed his large narrative compositions exhibited in French and American museums.