Covent Garden Labourers
1877
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1877
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Covent Garden Labourers is a 1877 by John Thomson, a Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see three men in work clothes leaning against a brick wall in London’s Covent Garden market. These aren’t just any laborers—they’re the “odd-men,” paid per delivery, so rain or slow seasons meant empty pockets. The painting shows them waiting for the next job, hats pulled low, hands in pockets. Their tired faces tell the story of a system that kept them on the edge. Look up more paintings of England, 19th century to see how other artists showed daily work.
Covent Garden workers, whose day started before 5 a.m., were divided into job-workers or odd-men—who were paid for each parcel they delivered and thus received little income in the off-seasons—and a much smaller group of salaried workers who were paid year-round to create arrangements and stock and help run the stalls.
The wholesale flower market at Covent Garden contained over 500 stands that employed around 4,000 men as growers and deliverymen.
Read the full account in the museum source.
John Thomson painted Scottish landscapes in oil, focusing on the rugged terrain around the Trossachs and Selkirkshire.
See the richer artist page
