Worker Collection

The grape harvest at the Chateau de Saumur (Loire Valley, France) in September
BOOK OF HOURS: SEPTEMBER. The grape harvest at the Chateau de Saumur (Loire Valley, France) in September. Illumination from the 15th century manuscript of the Tres Riches Heures of Jean, Duke of Berry

Drink More Milk poster
Poster issued by the National Milk Publicity Council showing a pretty, and wholesome looking dairy worker enjoying a glass of fresh milk

Panettoni in the Motta factory in Milan ready to be baked Milan Motta Factory. Date of Photograph:1950

CAPITALIST PYRAMID, 1911. American Socialist poster

China - Cultural Revolution Poster - Chairman Mao
The Many accomplish great things - Cultural Revolution poster from the Peoples Republic of China, featuring happy workers heading out to work, many holding aloft the Little Red Book

DIEGO RIVERA: DETROIT. Automobile Industry. Large detail of Diego Riveras mural at The Detroit Institute of Arts, 1932-1933

CAILLEBOTTE: PLANERS, 1875. The Floor Planers. Oil on canvas by Gustave Caillebotte

Advert for Horlicks malted milk 1916
Woman in World War One workshop, drinking the nourishing food-drink Horlicks Malted Milk. Date: 1916

Labour clears the way. Labour Party poster of 1910 challenging the House of Lords rejection of the Peoples Budget
ENGLAND: LABOUR POSTER. Labour clears the way. Labour Party poster of 1910 challenging the House of Lords rejection of the Peoples Budget

MIGRANT MOTHER, 1936. Florence Thompson, a 32-year-old migrant worker and mother of seven, with her children in a camp for migrant workers in Nipomo, California, 1936

Miners working at the coalface, South Wales
Two miners, stripped to the waist, working at the coalface in a coal seam in South Wales

Coal miners in shaft lift, South Wales
Several coal miners with blackened faces stand in the shaft lift at the end of their shift in a coal mine in South Wales

Miner at Geevor Tin Mine, Pendeen, Cornwall
Miner at work with a drill underground (below the sea) in Geevor Tin Mine, Pendeen, Cornwall, which was just about to cease operation. Date: circa 1986

Coal mine in England, 1850s
Removing coal in the Bradley mine, Staffordshire, England, 1850s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th century illustration

PELLIZZA DA VOLPEDO, Giuseppe (1868-1901). The

Medieval goldsmith at work
Workshop of Etienne Delaulne, a goldsmith in Paris, 1500s. Hand-colored woodcut reproduction of a 16th-century illustration

The iron worker and King Solomon. Print showing a blacksmith sitting on a stool next to the throne of Solomon, thought to be a usurper, the crowd rushes forward to remove him

DIEGO RIVERA: DETROIT. Detail from Diego Riveras mural depicting the American automobile industry at The Detroit Institute of Arts, 1932-1933

The Harvesters, 1565. Creator: Pieter Bruegel the Elder
The Harvesters, 1565

Detail of Diego Riveras mural at the Detroit Institute of Arts depicting the American automobile industry, 1932-33
DIEGO RIVERA: DETROIT. Detail of Diego Riveras mural at the Detroit Institute of Arts depicting the American automobile industry, 1932-33

Blowing glass in a British factory, 1800s
Workers in a crown-glass factory, Great Britain, early 1800s. Hand-colored engraving of a 19th-century illustration

DOLLY TUB
A laundry worker using a dolly stock and tub to clean clothes, prior to the invention of the washing machine

The Lutine Bell in the Underwriting Room at Lloyds of London, 1933, (1935). Creator: Unknown
The Lutine Bell in the Underwriting Room at Lloyds of London, 1933, (1935). The SS L Atlantique was insured by Lloyds for almost £ 1, 000, 000

Beat the Whites with the red wedge (Poster), 1920. Artist: Lissitzky, El (1890-1941)
Beat the Whites with the red wedge (Poster), 1920. Found in the collection of the Russian State Library, Moscow

Death to World Imperialism, poster, 1919. Artist: Dmitriy Stakhievich Moor
Death to World Imperialism, poster, 1919. Found in the collection of the Russian State Library, Moscow

RUSSIA: REVOLUTION OF 1905. Father Gapon leading unarmed factory workers against Cossacks at the Narva Gate, St. Petersburg, 22 January 1905. Contemporary drawing

DIEGO RIVERA: DETROIT. The central scene in Diego Riveras mural, depicting the American automobile industry at The Detroit Institute of Arts, 1932-1933

Two miners in a narrow coal seam, South Wales
Two miners, one of them quite young, working in a narrow coal seam in a mine in South Wales

Humphrey Jennings The Silent Village (1943)

St Catherine of Siena
ST CATHERINE OF SIENA Italian visionary and miracle worker, negotiating with Gregory XI on behalf of the Florentines

Aerospatiale BAC Concorde
Concorde 002 Prototype Roll-Out Ceremony Seen from Roof of the Brabazon Hangars Date: 1968

Bryant and May Match Factory
Girls feeding a machine at the Bryant & May match factory, in Bow, East London, at the time a tax on matches was being discussed in the budget. Date: 1916

Mr George Lailey engaged in the ancient craft of wooden bowl making at Bucklebury, Berks. An industry carried on by his father, Grandfather and Great Grandfather. 10 December 1922

The Girl He Left Behind Is Still Behind Him. American World War II recruitment poster for women ordnance workers
WORLD WAR II POSTER. The Girl He Left Behind Is Still Behind Him. American World War II recruitment poster for women ordnance workers

The kitchen of Delmonicos Restaurant, New York City. Photographed by Joseph Byron, 1902
DELMONICOs RESTAURANT. The kitchen of Delmonicos Restaurant, New York City. Photographed by Joseph Byron, 1902

South Street docks in New York City, 1870s
Merchant ships unloading along South Street, New York City, 1870s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Coal miner filling truck, South Wales mine
A coal miner (Billy Hurland) filling a dram (coal truck) at Baldwins Level (nicknamed Clog and Legging) in a coalmine near Pontypool in South Wales

Miner riding drams, Tirpentwys Colliery, South Wales
A miner riding a journey of drams (coal trucks) at Tirpentwys Colliery near Pontypool in South Wales. Date: 1910

Gardener at Pensax Court, Worcestershire. Photograph by Norman Synge Waller Budd

Female ICI employees enjoy a dance, South Yorkshire, 1957. Artist: Michael Walters
Female ICI employees enjoy a dance, South Yorkshire, 1957. A couple of girls from the ICI Detonator factory in Denaby Main (near Doncaster)

WW2 poster, Don t be fuel-ish
WW2 poster, The worker who left the lights on -- Don t be fuel-ish. Wasted electricity means less fuel to make the weapons we need for victory

WEST VIRGINIA: COAL MINE. The next trip. Coal miners sitting in a mining car, ready to go into the mine shaft at Maidsville, West Virginia. Photograph by Marion Post Wolcott, September 1938

HARLEM NEWSBOY, 1943. A newsboy from Harlem, New York. Photograph by Gordon Parks, 1943
HARLEM NEWSBOY, 1943. A newsboy in Harlem, New York. Photograph by Gordon Parks, 1943, digitally colored by Granger, NYC -- All Rights Reserved

SHERLOCK HOLMES. Dr. John Watson observing Sherlock Holmes working hard over a chemical investigation. Drawing by Sidney Paget for Arthur Conan Doyles The Adventure of the Naval Treaty, 1893

Manufacture of cork balls at Chingford General view of the house 28 November 1922

Workers are unloading sacks of flour from a Bedford truck belonging to Pledge & Son Ltd, the milling company, on one of their deliveries in Ashford, Kent. 1939

Hong Kong street scene, 1890s C016 / 4499
Hong Kong street scene. Pedestrians, carts, rickshaws and signs in both Chinese script and English on a hill street in Hong Kong in the 1890s. At the time, this area was a British colony

Unemployed coal miners demonstrating at Jarrow, England, in 1936
ENGLAND: COAL MINERS, 1936. Unemployed coal miners demonstrating at Jarrow, England, in 1936

The Young Communist League is the Shock Battalion of the Five-Year Plan. Soviet poster, 1931, by Vladimir Lyushin
RUSSIA: FIVE YEAR PLAN. The Young Communist League is the Shock Battalion of the Five-Year Plan. Soviet poster, 1931, by Vladimir Lyushin

United Trade Unions poster for the Popular Front, spring 1936
FRANCE: POPULAR FRONT, 1936. United Trade Unions poster for the Popular Front, spring 1936

ORGAN MANUFACTURE, 1770. The manufacture of pipe organs. Line engraving by Pierre Claude Delagardette, from l Art du Facteur d Orgues, compiled by Dom François B

SURVEYING, 1594. Surveyors taking sightings on land and sea. Line engraving, German, 1594

OTIS ELEVATOR WORKS, 1853. The Otis factory on the Hudson River in Yonkers, New York. Wood engraving, 1853

Trades union membership certificate
A trades union membership certificate for the United Operative Plumbers Association of Great Britain and Ireland, with Defence and Defiance as their motto

Glass factory workers in Britain, 1800s
Manufacturing glass at a flint-glass factory, Great Britain, 1800s. Hand-colored engraving of a 19th-century illustration

Malawi, Thyolo, Satemwa Tea Estate. Workers plucking tea

Picking coal from waste tip during 1921 strike, South Wales
Three men picking coal from a local colliery waste tip during the 1921 strike, South Wales

Harvest worker holding Malbec wine grapes, Mendoza, Argentina, South America

England, Tyne and Wear, Angel of the North. The Angel of the North statue near the cities of Gateshead and Newcastle Upon Tyne

PELLIZZA DA VOLPEDO, Giuseppe (1868-1901). The Fourth Estate. 1901. Central detail. Naturalism. Oil on canvas. ITALY. Milan. Pinacotheca of Brera

Las Hilanderas, (The Spinners), 1657, (c1934). Artist: Diego Velasquez
Las Hilanderas, (The Spinners), 1657, (c1934). Traditionally, believed to depict women workers in the tapestry workshop of Santa Isabel, iconography suggests Ovids Fable of Arachne

Mill Workers - Spinning - Rochdale, Lancashire. Date: 1911

British Countryside - A 75 year-old Shepherd at Crondall, Hampshire Date: 1938

Shetland knitter, Shetland Islands, Scotland. She is knitting as she walks along with a bulky load on her back. Date: late 19th century

CHINA: WOMAN, 1860s. Woman of the Working Class, Canton, China: photographed by John Thomson, 1868-72

R36 Ready for launching at Inchinnan Woman workers putting the finishing touches to the airship 19 March 1921

Building work on the widening of the Swanley Bridge in Kent. 1938

Women of Britain, Come into the Factories. British poster recruiting women for munitions work during World War II
WWII: BRITISH POSTER. Women of Britain, Come into the Factories. British poster recruiting women for munitions work during World War II, by Donald Zec, c1941

Kings Cross station, London, British Railways, c1949-1950
Kings Cross station, London, British Railways. View along the busy platform 10, with the 10.00 service to Edinburgh (the Flying Scotsman) preparing for departure. c1949-50

American seamstress and patriot. Betsy Ross making the first American flag. Drawing by Elisabeth Moore Hallowell
BETSY ROSS (1752-1836). American seamstress and patriot. Betsy Ross making the first American flag. Drawing by Elisabeth Moore Hallowell

Steel Workers Organizing Comittee. Painting for a poster (never printed), late 1930s, by Ben Shahn
SHAHN: STEEL UNION POSTER. Steel Workers Organizing Comittee. Painting for a poster (never printed), late 1930s, by Ben Shahn

Bee anatomy, artwork
Bee anatomy. Computer artwork showing the internal anatomy of a honeybee (Apis mellifera). Nerve fibres are blue. The wings are attached to the thorax

Oil well, 19th century
Oil well. Crude oil erupting from a wellhead in a 19th-century oil field. The wellhead is the structure used to contain and pump oil as it reaches the surface from deep underground, often, as here

Silent Film Still: Sewing

DIEGO RIVERA: DETROIT. Edsel B. Ford, extreme right, and William Valentiner in a detail from Diego Riveras mural depicting the American automobile industry at The Detroit Institute of Arts, 1932-1933

CHINA: COMMUNIST POSTER. Give everything for your country! Chinese Communist Party poster from 1950

MALAYA: PLANTATION, 1931. The Market of the Garden Tropics - Malayan Pineapples. British Empire Marketing Board Poster, 1931

WORKERS & FARMERS POSTER. From Workers to Farmers... Thanks! Poster, 1944, by Ben Shahn for the Congress of Industrial Organizations to encourage united political action by labor

LOCOMOTIVE, 1883. The conductor, crew and canine mascot of a Central Pacific Railroad train posing by the locomotive during a station stop at Mill City, Nevada. Photographed in 1883

Riverboats at Shreveport, Louisiana, 1870s
Stevedores loading barrels at the Red River levee at Shreveport, Louisiana, 1870s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Apprentice carpenter
Young carpenters apprentice planing a block of wood, 1800s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Orange grove in California
California orange grove, 1890s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Bakers at their trade in the late Middle Ages
Bakers of York, showing their guild ordinances, England, 1590s. Hand-colored 19th-century woodcut reproduction of an earlier illustration

Haulier and assistant, Baldwins Level, South Wales
A haulier and his assistant, with a pit pony pulling a truck, at Baldwins Clog and Legging Level, near Pontypool, South Wales

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The worker, a central figure in the capitalist pyramid, has been depicted throughout history in various forms of art and propaganda. From American socialist posters to Diego Rivera's murals at The Detroit Institute of Arts, these artworks shed light on the struggles and triumphs of workers. In 1911, an American Socialist poster showcased the harsh reality faced by workers within the capitalist system. It emphasized the unequal distribution of wealth and power, with a small elite benefiting from the labor of many. Diego Rivera's mural depicting the automobile industry in Detroit during the 1930s captured both the grandeur and hardships experienced by workers. It showcased their tireless efforts amidst towering machinery, highlighting their crucial role in driving industrial progress. During China's Cultural Revolution, Chairman Mao became an iconic symbol for workers' empowerment. A cultural revolution poster portrayed him as a guiding force leading them towards a brighter future. Labour Party posters from 1910 challenged societal inequalities such as House of Lords' rejection of budget reforms. These visuals aimed to rally support for fairer treatment and representation for working-class individuals. From Geevor Tin Mine in Cornwall to coal mines in South Wales and England during different time periods, images depict miners enduring grueling conditions underground while contributing to fueling industries above ground. Gustave Caillebotte's painting "The Floor Planers" immortalized manual laborers engaged in mundane yet essential tasks. Their stoic expressions reveal their dedication despite monotonous work environments. Artists like El Lissitzky used powerful imagery such as "Beat the Whites with Red Wedge" to promote communist ideals after World War I. This poster conveyed unity among workers against oppressive forces through its bold design elements. Soviet propaganda posters further highlighted worker mobilization during Stalin's Five-Year Plan era. Vladimir Lyushin's artwork celebrated young communists as shock troops driving economic growth through industrialization efforts. These diverse artworks remind us that workers have played a pivotal role in shaping societies and economies.