Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1981.25.356
Gallery Label:
Painted before England’s agricultural revolution changed farming practices forever from the mid-eighteenth century, this bucolic scene depicts the sentimental ideal of healthy and contented laborers engaged in their summer work, mowing the grass to make hay. As some of the figures continue to toil, others enjoy fleeting indulgences while taking a break: one man rests behind a haystack raising a drink to his lips, and an amorous couple’s stolen moment of passion is interrupted by the teasing of fellow workers. They control their own labor and manage their own time. Women were central to the preindustrial labor force, and haymaking and harvest were long associated with lovemaking and celebrations of the fertility of nature. Gallery label for Love, Life, Death, and Desire: An Installation of the Center's Collections (Yale Center for British Art, 2020-11-01 – 2021-02-28)