Emile Claus – Boy and Cow at Sunset Postcard

The boy and the cow end the day together. A young farm worker in a dark jacket walks at the head of a large red-and-white dairy cow, one hand on the lead — painted from life, with its own particular markings rather than as a generic animal. A small girl in a blue dress sits in the foreground grass watching them pass, and behind them a row of poplars and a rounded haystack stand against a sky turning from gold to deep peach. Claus signs it in the lower right; this is mature, assured Luminism at its warmest.

A pastoral evening card for anyone who'd rather receive a sunset than a sunrise.