The Banana Grower

A worker crosses the ground with his load on his shoulder. He carries a pole across his shoulders, and hanging from each end are two big bunches of freshly cut green bananas. He moves slowly, his hat on, with a small goat walking beside him. All around is open country: the wet ground, a fallen log, and a puddle that mirrors the grey morning sky. On the right, a large banana plant dominates the scene, its broad leaves spread open like fans and several bunches hanging, still to be cut. Behind it stretch green pastures, a few trees, and far off a blue mountain fading under the clouds. The vegetation holds a thousand shades of green, from the darkest to the brightest. The oil on canvas is painted with careful realism, alert to every detail of the landscape: the veins of the leaves, the bark of the trunks, the mud of the path, the reflection in the water. The light is that of an overcast day, soft and even, with no hard shadows, very much the light of the humid tropics. The title, The Banana Grower, puts the focus on the one who does the work. Behind the green and the calm of the landscape is the daily effort of a man carrying the harvest by hand, a way of life tied to the land and to growing bananas. A simple scene that pays tribute to the farmer and his trade.