Viticulture (harvesting the grapes)

Alfred Gaspart

Between September of 1935 through 1936 Alfred Gaspart spent time in Beaune, Burgundy, France chronicling the wine making of the region. He published a book of photographs from this time, accompanied by a series of letters to his sister about the experience: the weather, fears of bad harvests, the care of the vineyards and the making of the wine.

This drawing, one of a series depicting the grape harvest, may have been preparatory for a mural that never materialized. This composition depicts a picker adding his picked grapes to a basket hoisted on another worker's shoulder. Pickers can be seen behind the two men.

Gaspart sketched the composition, probably on site, and added watercolor highlights to suggest the colors, creating a loose but readable work.