Emile Claus — Storm Over the Wheat Harvest Postcard

A storm gathers over the wheat fields as a woman in a blue blouse shelters two children beneath a tall grain stook, her rake planted in the stubble beside her. Behind her, a man drives a pair of black-and-white oxen across the harvested ground, more stooks rising against the darkening sky. Emile Claus, an artist usually associated with sunlit calm, lets the weather do the work here, building unease through color rather than incident. Signed clearly by the artist, it's the moodiest scene in the batch — send it to someone who'd rather watch a storm roll in than a sunset.