' The Flax Barn ' Max Liebermann ( German 1847 - 1935 ) Oil on canvas circa 1887

' The Flax Barn at Laren ' is one of Liebermann's main works among his series of large-scale paintings of groups of people and workers in the 1880's . In a bright, low yet extensive shed , all the figures are performing the same task , spinning flax . By the wall under the windows , their are children using flywheels to wind the flax onto spindles .Women and girls stand spaced throughout the room , each with a bundle of flax under her arm , spinning the thread with her hands . The scene is marked by it's strong , even rhythm : in their structure the parallels of the floorboards and the beams strengthen the harmony of the work . The women stand in their place like 'pillars' The work depicts the calm of everyday life - and a sense of permanence in the monotony of constantly repeated movements . The colours are also without dramatic contrasts , reserved and cool . That peculiarly Dutch , pale silvery-grey light , which Liebermann loved so much , permeates the scene .