Harvest

The Harvest (1890) by Asai Chū is one of the most important and seminal works of Japanese Yōga (western-style) painting that captures the harsh reality of agricultural existence during the late 19th century. This painting was created during the Meiji era and shows peasants farming on a Japanese farm in the harvest season. This oil painting on canvas was heavily inspired by the French Barbizon school of painting, which was introduced to Asai through his Italian mentor, Antonio Fontanesi. In this piece, Asai did not resort to any form of idealization but painted the harsh realities of agricultural life. To highlight the struggles of the common man, he used a dull color palette with brown, ochre, and green colors dominating the landscape. The lower right foreground contains baskets and bamboo rods, which have been carefully drawn by Asai. These commonplace objects used in farming act as a repoussoir technique, which physically moves other elements in the scene into the background, thus creating immediate depth. It is a matter of mathematical calculation. The three figures' heads create a mathematically calculated diagonal that goes down towards the middle of the painting systematically from the standing figure on the right, then the bending figure on the left, then the figure in the lower center position. This helps create perspective and a balanced structure. He has painted the figures in such an ethnographically accurate manner. They have been portrayed wearing straw caps like huts which have been made deliberately in order to provide shade from the autumn sun, along with work aprons tied around their waists. The background elements in the picture include tall straw bundles (waratsuba) placed there in the backdrop, under a pale grey sky. Asai's brushstrokes have captured the rough textures of the straw along with the dusty ambience of the autumn season.