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In the summer of 1873 Munkácsy was invited by Baron and Baroness de Marches to their estate in Colpach. The countryside reminded the artist of this strugglesome childhood and years of apprenticeship, the humiliations he had to suffer and the poverty. All these deepen the realism in the depiction. The primal tone of the painting is dark, too. the whites are shining brightly; the tired face of the woman, her rugged hands and humble dress, and the simple commodities of her surrounding represent the hard work and her arduous life. Munkácsy has created a truly realist genre painting, it is imbued with the sadness the artist felt when he was forced to face reality and it is filed with a quiet contemplation. "Churning Woman" is a masterpiece; Munkácsy's artistic approach show the assimilation of Courbet's and Leibl's influence.
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