This 1887 oil painting at the Musée Meunier of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique) by Belgian artist Constantin Meunier depicts a tired young woman leaning on a long shovel next to a large box of coal. Hiercheuses were women who worked in the mines in Belgium in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Their husbands were miners, their sons and brothers too. They were often teens, and they likely took the path of coal mining in order to bring a little more money to their family. They commonly tied a tight scarf over their hair and dressed in a simple beige two-piece pant suit plus galoshes or clogs on their feet. They went to the "pit" every morning, down to the bottom to push the carts in narrow underground galleries. They also worked on the surface, filling and pushing the heavy carts filled with coal and stones back to the yard. They carried the ore in carts or in heavy hoods to carts or barges along the waterfront. At home, they were frequently expected to also keep the house — taking care of the laundry, the children, etc. Meunier gives us a look at a life of fatigue and sacrifice. The artist made an important contribution to the development of modern art by elevating the image of the industrial worker, dock worker, and miner to an icon of modernity. His work is a reflection of the industrial, social, and political developments of his day and represents a compassionate and committed view of humans and the world. He was one of the co-founders of the Société Libre des Beaux-Arts of Brussels and was a member of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers. Meunier died in Ixelles on April 4, 1905.

“Une hiercheuse” by Constantin Meunier (Belgian) - Oil on canvas / 1887 - Musée Meunier (Brussels, Belgium) #WomenInArt #art #CoalMiner #ConstantinMeunier #BelgianArt #Meunier #womensart #ArtText #BelgianArtist #portraitofawoman #coalworker #labor #fineart #artwork #1880s #MuséeMeunier #hardlabor