Milking Time

A small group of brown cattle gathers in an open paddock near a modest white cottage, while a line of wooded hills climbs behind them under open sky. The animals stand close together as if waiting for the farmer, giving the quiet rural scene a sense of daily routine. This painting was made in 1922 by Elioth Gruner, using oil on canvas on wood, and it is held at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Gruner, who lived from 1882 to 1939, was an Australian painter whose work often turned to pastoral settings like this one. One detail worth noticing is the contrast between the pale walls of the cottage and the darker, rounded shapes of the cattle grouped before it, which draws the eye toward the center of the composition.