'The Potato Harvest, Amaru, Peru' was painted thousands of meters up in the high Andes above Cusco in Peru, this John Dyer ethnobotanical painting captures a family harvesting potatoes, the staple food in Peru. A passer-by is walking her pig through the mountains. Condors fly across the blue sky and horses rest in the warm sunshine. An important painting from this acclaimed artist.
"My first painting was painted way up in the Andes, an hour’s trek up from a tiny village called Amaru at a height of around 4000m. The farmer that I was staying with took me up into the mountains to look for the potato harvest and after 1.5 hrs of walking vertically up, we came across this small family group clearing one of the last fields in the area. Mother, Father, Grandmother and a child all worked hard and they were accompanied by their animals – pigs and horses. The amazing space-blue of the Andean sky dominates the view with the dry dusty red earth acting as a canvas for the multitude of plants, animals and the biodiverse potato crop of tubers of all colours from blue to red. As I painted, and the family harvested, my host farmer continued to crochet a new Peruvian hat of many colours and geometric shapes."
John Dyer
Item Information
Description |
Framed Original Painting |
Artist |
Cornish Artist John Dyer (born 1968) |
Signed by the Artist |
Signed by John Dyer |
Painting size |
24 x 24 inches |
Medium |
Acrylic on canvas |
Framed size |
32 x 32 inches |
Frame type |
John Dyer: In the 1950s simple neutral frames became popular for St Ives artists. John chooses an off-white so the lightest tones appear in the painting. The moulding is a variation of 'Salvator Rosa' from Italy. Hand finished in almond white paint. |
Ready to hang |
Strung with picture cord and ready to hang |

The painting is featured in the book 'Painting the Colours of the World' by Kate Dinn.
Artist Information Links
Read about artist John Dyer
Artist Chronology I Paintings in Public Collections I View John Dyer's Latest Paintings