donatefr
Back to Start

The Apple Gatherer, c.1911

Impressionist-style painting by Helen McNicoll of a woman with strawberry blonde hair standing in the shade of a tree and reaching up into the branches. A nearly-full basket of apples sits on the ground beside her.

Helen McNicoll, The Apple Gatherer, c.1911, oil on canvas, 106.8 x 92.2 cm, Art Gallery of Hamilton.

Among the largest of McNicoll’s canvases, The Apple Gatherer neither romanticizes nor pities its subject. The central figure has been at her work for a while, as her basket is nearly full and her cheeks are flushed with sunburn. Peasant subjects were popular in the nineteenth century, especially with a middle-class, urban audience that felt nostalgic for the pre-industrial age. Paintings such as this one helped to shape the contemporary understanding that the physical appearance of the body revealed a person’s social class and show that McNicoll was interested in the experience of women beyond the white, bourgeois ideal represented in her other work.

Gallery

Impressionist-style painting by Helen McNicoll of a woman and two children, all dressed in white, outside on a sunny day. They are standing in a field with tall grass and trees blowing in the wind; a beach is seen in the distance. The woman is holding a white parasol and a young girl, facing away from the viewer, is holding onto her wide-brimmed hat.

Sunny September, 1913

Impressionist-style painting by Helen McNicoll of a woman sitting outside and reading under a parasol with a baby in a pram sleeping beside her. The pair are shaded by a tall tree and soft dappled light falls on the parasol and the baby's blanket.

In the Shadow of the Tree, c.1914

Impressionist-style painting by Helen McNicoll of a woman with strawberry blonde hair standing in the shade of a tree and reaching up into the branches. A nearly-full basket of apples sits on the ground beside her.

The Apple Gatherer, c.1911

Impressionist-style painting by Helen McNicoll of a young blonde girl wearing a white dress. She is standing in the middle of a field with tall grasses painted in yellows and light greens and dotted with small purple flowers. She is holding a large metal bucket and three chickens follow behind her. Small farm buildings and fences are seen in the top left of the frame.

The Little Worker, c.1907

Impressionist-style painting by Helen McNicoll of a warmly lit white room decorated in Victorian or Edwardian-era furnishings. A wooden dresser with a large mirror sits next to a fireplace. White linens cover a rocking chair and a seat by the window.

Interior, c.1910

Impressionist-style painting by Helen McNicoll of a woman in a white dress standing near an open door. Outside we can see a large tree while inside there is a dresser with a large mirror. The woman is sewing and looking down at a small piece of fabric in her hands.

The Open Door, c.1913

Impressionist-style painting by Helen McNicoll of two women sitting on the beach under the shade of a tent. One woman, wearing a white dress, sits on a blanket and leans over a sketchbook. The other woman, wearing a hat and painting smock, looks in a box of painting materials on her lap. People playing in the water are visible near the top of the frame.

Under the Shadow of the Tent

Impressionist-style painting by Helen McNicoll of a brunette woman in a white dress seated on a sofa covered in a bright floral pattern. She is sewing and looking down at the fabric in her hands.

The Chintz Sofa, c.1913

Impressionist-style painting by Helen McNicoll of a brunette woman in a ballgown with a tiered white skirt. She is seated in front of a tall mirror, hands in her lap, and wearing a pink and red striped shawl around her shoulders.

The Victorian Dress, 1914

Impressionist-style painting by Helen McNicoll of a woman and two children, all dressed in white, outside on a sunny day. They are standing in a field with tall grass and trees blowing in the wind; a beach is seen in the distance. The woman is holding a white parasol and a young girl, facing away from the viewer, is holding onto her wide-brimmed hat.

Sunny September, 1913

Impressionist-style painting by Helen McNicoll of a woman sitting outside and reading under a parasol with a baby in a pram sleeping beside her. The pair are shaded by a tall tree and soft dappled light falls on the parasol and the baby's blanket.

In the Shadow of the Tree, c.1914

Impressionist-style painting by Helen McNicoll of a woman with strawberry blonde hair standing in the shade of a tree and reaching up into the branches. A nearly-full basket of apples sits on the ground beside her.

The Apple Gatherer, c.1911

Impressionist-style painting by Helen McNicoll of a young blonde girl wearing a white dress. She is standing in the middle of a field with tall grasses painted in yellows and light greens and dotted with small purple flowers. She is holding a large metal bucket and three chickens follow behind her. Small farm buildings and fences are seen in the top left of the frame.

The Little Worker, c.1907

Impressionist-style painting by Helen McNicoll of a warmly lit white room decorated in Victorian or Edwardian-era furnishings. A wooden dresser with a large mirror sits next to a fireplace. White linens cover a rocking chair and a seat by the window.

Interior, c.1910

Impressionist-style painting by Helen McNicoll of a woman in a white dress standing near an open door. Outside we can see a large tree while inside there is a dresser with a large mirror. The woman is sewing and looking down at a small piece of fabric in her hands.

The Open Door, c.1913

Impressionist-style painting by Helen McNicoll of two women sitting on the beach under the shade of a tent. One woman, wearing a white dress, sits on a blanket and leans over a sketchbook. The other woman, wearing a hat and painting smock, looks in a box of painting materials on her lap. People playing in the water are visible near the top of the frame.

Under the Shadow of the Tent

Impressionist-style painting by Helen McNicoll of a brunette woman in a white dress seated on a sofa covered in a bright floral pattern. She is sewing and looking down at the fabric in her hands.

The Chintz Sofa, c.1913

Impressionist-style painting by Helen McNicoll of a brunette woman in a ballgown with a tiered white skirt. She is seated in front of a tall mirror, hands in her lap, and wearing a pink and red striped shawl around her shoulders.

The Victorian Dress, 1914

The Apple Gatherer - Art Canada