Rather than getting stuck in a sea of people during the May Day holiday, it’s more relaxing to enjoy paintings at home

During the May Day holiday, queues at scenic spots stretched like long dragons and highways turned into parking lots! Instead of being stuck in traffic and becoming a “meme”, why not change your perspective and enjoy the never “congested” scenes of labor through the brushes of artists?
From Xu Beihong’s “Yugong Moves the Mountain” depicting strong men with the power to move mountains, to “Joyful Cultivation in the Nine Provinces” showing farmers working leisurely with hoes, the brushstrokes smoothly convey the passion of striving and the serenity of daily life. The former interprets the indomitable spirit with vigorous strokes, while the latter sketches a vision of peace with gentle lines.

Van Gogh’s “The Sower” with its golden wheat waves surging under the intense colors, ignites the passion of life and infuses every stroke with the hope of labor. In contrast, Miller’s “The Gleaners” uses realistic strokes to depict the figures of women bending over in the fields, silently telling the hardships, perseverance, and authenticity of life of the working class.
Chen Danqing’s “Tibetan Series” takes us to the plateau, where scenes of drying highland barley and twisting the wool are depicted with simplicity, allowing us to feel the fusion of primitive vitality and pure faith.

Liu Xiaohui depicted the slightly hunched back with light and elegant tones, without intense colors or deliberate sentimentality, yet conveys a sense of tranquility and profound strength in the peace and silence.

Liu Xiaodong captures the true state of laborers with his brush, from the hands tightly grasping tools to the weary and lost expressions. In “Violation”, a group of migrant workers are piled up like goods on a truck, vividly depicting their hardships and confusion about their fate.
The style shifts as Huang Zhou’s “Celebrating the Harvest” uses bright lines to depict the Xinjiang people joyfully dancing after the harvest, allowing us to feel the joy of the fruits of labor and the beautiful life created by labor.

This May Day, why not temporarily bid farewell to the crowded crowds and follow the brushes of these artists to appreciate the various aspects of labor, the passion of striving, the serenity of daily life, and the joy of harvest. In the nourishment of art, let’s pay tribute to every laborer who writes their life with sweat!