Artist: H. A. Brendekilde (1857–1942)
Title: (English: Worn out) (Danish: Udslidt)
Date: 1889
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: height: 207 cm (81.4 in); width: 270 cm (106.2 in)
Inscriptions: Signature and date bottom right: H.A. Brendekilde 89
Collection: Funen’s Art Museum
About this painting:
Hans Andersen Brendekilde (7 April 1857 – 30 March 1942) was a Danish painter.
H.A. Brendekilde was a forerunner of the social realist style, embraced by Diego Rivera.
This is one of my favorite paintings because the artist shows us the story of a poor farmer or farm laborer.
Brejdekilde’s early work often depicted the daily lives of the rural working class. Later, he painted portraits on commission and also painted children and countryside landscapes. He is also famous for his garden which contained more than 3000 species of flowers.
Via Wikipedia: “His painting of flowers and animals are mentioned among the best pictures illustrating the material and spiritual correlation between vegetation, animals and the Danes.”
“Worn Out” (1889) is one of his most famous paintings. It shows an elderly man lying fallen on his back in a vast, barren field. This is a strong social statement, showing that the lowest working class had no option to retire with even a tiny pension. Laborers worked until the day they died.
Brendekilde’s genius shows in the way he depicts the central subject. The rocky field nearly blends with the sky. Dirt and rocks dominate this painting. Dirt on their clothes, small rocks embedded in the soil, larger rocks gathered into piles to be carted from the field … this man’s life was the soil, hard and rocky though it was. Yet he clung to it, working to clear the rocks until he could go no further.
I love the detail in this painting, the way he shows the broad flat lands of Denmark. It’s easy to see how their day began: the man and woman spent the morning picking rocks from a field and making small piles of them, preparatory to plowing the field.
Then, something happened. Was it a heart attack? A stroke? One of the man’s clogs has fallen off his foot, lost when he stumbled and fell. The stones he was picking up and carrying in his apron have tumbled to the ground beside him.
Farming is working in the dirt, and that is made clear in this painting. If you have ever planted a garden in an area where a glacier once stood, you know that new rocks tend to work themselves to the surface every year.
The woman wears a dress that has been patched many times. The loose, dry soil on her garments show she too has been picking rocks all morning.
Is the woman his daughter? Or perhaps his wife? Even if only a friend, she is terribly concerned for him.
They are nearing the end of their winter stores, and the first new vegetables have yet to be planted. Has he worked himself to death? Will he recover?
As most artists do, H. A. Brendekilde tells us a story in this stark painting. He leaves us the option to imagine what happens next.
Credits and Attributions:
Credits and Attributions:
IMAGE: Worn Out by H. A. Brendekilde File:H. A. Brendekilde – Udslidt (1889).jpg – Wikipedia accessed July 7, 2026.
Information sourced from: Wikipedia contributors, “H. A. Brendekilde,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=H._A._Brendekilde&oldid=1343079043 (accessed July 8, 2026).
Life in the Realm of Fantasy 