Gathering Pumpkins at Sunset

The golden sky making the figures in the image appear backlit is visually striking and required Alten to paint very quickly while the sky changed. This is another example of plein-air painting (painting outdoors), where Alten sat in the field at dusk capturing what he saw in front of him. The illumination around the ankles of the horses and the gleam on the pumpkins are intricate details that would have had to be noticed in the exact moment before the light changed.