Description of the picture:
Return from the fields – Hans Dahl.
The paintings of this Norwegian-Swedish artist reflect the highly idealized and embellished life of the rural and working population of the country, but they have undoubted artistic and aesthetic advantages.
The painting, dedicated to the villagers of a mountainous country, depicts a young girl in a beautiful national costume, returning from work in a surprisingly scenic area. She carries a large wide rake made of wood, designed to collect grass. This is evidenced by a long blade of grass, pestering the rake. It immediately becomes clear that the young girl participated in haymaking, that is, she raked the cut grass with a rake for drying.
She placed the tool on one shoulder so that it would be easier to carry long rakes. In the second hand, she has a small wooden tub with a pen. Most likely, in it she took water for work.
The girl’s outfit is simple, but very bright and picturesque. Despite the fact that she was engaged in heavy physical labor, the young villager was dressed very neatly and beautifully. She is barefoot, but she is wearing a clean white shirt with rolled up sleeves, a dark brown wide skirt with a red hem below the knee length so as not to interfere with work, and an elegant corsage of bright red color with a spectacular black insert and multi-colored embroidery.
The girl blushed from work in the fresh air, which makes her young face even more attractive and beautiful. This slender blonde daughter of the North looks very cute and gentle, it seems that she is returning not from work, but from a pleasant walk.
The nature surrounding the girl is striking in its colorfulness. The artist was able to masterfully convey the depth of space – just clearly felt fresh and clean mountain air. The distant mountain peaks drowning in a haze are covered with snow even in the warm season, their cool bluish tones emphasize the riot of colors in the foreground of the picture. This is typically northern nature – sparse vegetation diligently clings its roots to almost bare rocks. But the artist depicted the mass flowering of herbs, and the shades of grass shimmer with all the richness of golden, green and brown tones. All this will be smoothed out very expressively and impressively, and the cold, bright waters of the fjord lying in the distance only emphasize that we have the northern expanses.
This canvas is a hymn of love for one’s homeland, captured by colors and feelings."