Washerwomen at work. Or men from the factory on their way home. And workers in the quarry or foundry: Marianne von Werefkin often paints people going about their daily work. Against the backdrop of the Bavarian foothills of the Alps, she depicts four field workers here. They all wear the same clothes and white headscarves. They rake mown grass and pile it up to dry using small rods. Each one works in a concentrated and dynamic way for herself. And yet they all work together in the same rhythm. The work reflects the expressionists' desire to bring what they see into harmony with what they experience. Marianne von Werefkin implements this here in a powerful composition dominated by blue and green tones. Steep mountain slopes and gently curved peaks form a tremendous natural backdrop. The workers' own rhythm and structure are harmoniously embedded in this. There is a drawing for the painting in Werefkin's sketchbook A21. This drawing and the painting are almost identical in every detail. For example, the motif. In both cases, four women with white headscarves are raking the mown meadow. Many of the poles are already piled up with hay. In the sketch and in the painting, two huts stand in front of the dark hills. Higher mountains cut into the valley. And behind everything, the Ester Mountains unfold. The composition and colors of the painting and sketch are also identical down to the nuances. And yet. Marianne von Werefkin allowed herself one change in the later painting: The woman on the far left turns towards the viewer - a countermovement full of tension to the rest of the composition.