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Work This multi-figured composition has, as its central focus, three white shirted and capped males. Two have shovels and are in various stages of digging, while the third pauses for a drink. The three figures are surrounded by many additional figures in different modes of dress and activity. Beneath the standing male holding his shovel upright is a rectangular opening in the ground. Several logs are stretched horizontally across the opening, the nearest holding a rope and pulley. In the front of the opening and below ground level, a shovel and hand are barely visible. At the rear, behind the standing figure, a red bearded figure holds a _____. Left of center, near the signposted brick wall, a raggedly dressed male carries a basket of wildflowers. His eyes shift to the central action while he grips his basket. Behind him, two young, well-dressed women carry parasols. Their eyes are looking down and they hold their skirts as they pass the workingmen. The last figure of the group, facing away from the viewer, carries a green box on his head. In the central background, in the shade of the tree, two well-dressed figures are on horseback. The gentleman wears a yellow vest and black op hat, the woman a pink hat and white gloves. Their standing horses appear to be tethered to the wood, barring their way forward. Right of center, in the middle ground, three mature trees stand behind the drinking workman. The trees cast shadows on both sides of the composition. Directly in front of the trees figures include a workman with a clay pipe, a young red head with sunlight cast on his face, and a red vested man with a bow and newspaper. In the foreground, raggedly dressed children group between the workmen and their wheelbarrow. The oldest girl, her back to the viewer, wears a well worn and large maroon dress. While holding a baby, she reaches for the young boy who apparently is trying to move the wheelbarrow. The fourth child observes the activity of the workmen. Several dogs in the immediate foreground balance the group. On the extrme right, leaning against a metal railing, two well-dressed gentlemen are in conversation. One is bearded and rests on a cane; the other holds a book and looks towards the action of the group. His brown frockcoat is dappled in sunlight. Beneath the railing, a road leads the viewer's eye to a continuation of houses. Several figures carrying sandwich boards walk along the road in the sunlight, while several rest beneath the shade of the tree. To the extreme right, moving off the canvas and barely visible, a policeman pushes a female orange seller, causing her to drop her fruit. Background Brown's painting, inspired by the writings of Thomas Carlyle, focuses on the nobility of labor and the worker. Navvies, the three central figures in the sunlight, are hard at work in various stages of excavating a new road. They are strong and able bodied, the only sign indicating hard toil is the worker's pause for a drink. Surrounding the navvies are groups that indicate the various levels of contemporary social and economic class. The bow tied man carries a copy of The Times, as well as his carpenter's box. Representing the craftsmen class, his superiority over the laborers is apparent in his mode of dress and ability to read. Behind him, the redheaded young man - perhaps representing a recent Irish immigrant - carries a bucket, the smile on his face indicating a willingness to work. The leisured class, indicated by the gentleman and woman in the background, has time and money. Their fine clothing and high position in the composition denotes a higher standing in society. Their position in the shade of the trees removes them from the central focus. As pinnacles of society, they hold no importance as noble laborers. The lower class, as indicated by the group of ragged children in the immediate foreground, are poor and without the benefits of money or adult supervision. The oldest, perhaps a child of twelve, is dressed in adults clothing, and is doing an adult's job. Their position is drastically emphasized by their placement: at the lowest point of the composition and opposite the leisured class. The ragged and barefoot flower seller at left makes an attempt at work, but his hat (shading his eyes), his full basket, and his general demeanor indicate passivity for his task. Not much nobility there. The two decorative and demure ladies at left shade themselves from the effects of the sun and a vulgar darkening of skin. They walk gracefully down the incline and hold their crinoline skirts up and off of the dirt path. They represent temperance, as indicated by the flyers they carry and those posted on the nearby brick wall. Hodman's Heaven and Drink for the Thirsty Soul contrast with the sentiment of the thirsty noble navvy - himself probably drinking a cooling ale. Idleness, and an unwillingness or inability to work, is indicated by the sleeping figures at right and in the shade. They are physically separated from the central group by the metal railing. Street traders, as indicated by the orange seller and figures carrying sandwich boards, seem to have a hard time plying their trade. The policeman moves the orange seller along. The oranges drop and become bruised, therefore making them unsellable. The two standing gentlemen at right represent the intellectual class. Included within the confines of the metal railing, and in partial sunlight, they converse while facing the laborers. Thomas Carlyle (philosopher and writings which include Past and Present) and the Rev. F. D. Maurice (Christian Socialist and founder of the Working Men's College) were proponents of the nobility of the workers. Brown's admiration for their philosophy was the basis for this painting. For there is a perennial nobleness, and even sacredness, in Work. Were he never so benighted, forgetful of his high calling, there is always hope in a man that actually and earnestly works: in Idleness alone is there perpetual despair. Work, never so Mammonish, mean, is in communication with Nature; the real desire to get Work done will itself lead one more and more to truth, to Nature’s appointments and regulations which are truth.
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