Segantini 09: La portatrice d'acqua – Die Wasserträgerin, 1886/87

A farmer's wife carries a wooden yoke with outstretched arms, careful not to spill the precious water. Segantini refers here, as in other works, to the vital element for humans and animals. He does not romanticize the daily strict walk to the well, but depicts it in a lifelike way.

Water as the origin and source of life

In many pictures, Segantini uses water as a symbol of the origin of all life. He writes in a letter: "The clear water that runs cold through the veins of the earth takes on color, warms up, condenses and runs as blood through the veins of the creatures."
From Zehnder-Segantini, Bianca, loc. cit., p. 89