Harper’s Weekly published Farny’s Toilers of the Plain, one of his more famous pieces, in June of 1884. Two years earlier, in 1882, he completed a slightly different version of this image. I have found no specific comment information on why he chose to redo the scene. Both the 1882 version and the 1884 version are owned by the Cincinnati Art Museum.
Here is the 1882 version, which includes his signature and date. It is 22 3/16″W x 40″H and painted in oil:
The 1884 version is slightly smaller, at 18 5/16″W x 27 5/8″H and painted in Gouache:
Here’s how the image appeared in the June 21, 1884, issue of Harpers:
For Harpers, it seems it was a chance to make a dig at Indian men, whom they claimed were lazy and, thus, the women had to toil. Here’s the blurb from page 395 of the issue:
