Mas i Fondevila was, together with Juan Roig i Soler (1852-1909) among others, one of the cofounders of the Luminist School, a movement that emerged in the late nineteenth century. Based in Sitges, the school had much in common with the of the and the Impressionist movement, focusing on an analysis of atmospheric changes and on painting outside the studio walls.

This movement in turn also diverged from academicism in terms of subject matters: they began to depict the reality of the fin-de-siècle rural society through an innovative visual concept. Segador is an excellent example of this: the painter portrays a life removed from the hustle and of the city and represents local traditional trades as if in snapshots, showing a new sensibility towards everyday tasks.

In this work, Mas i Fondevila beautifully captures the impact of the midday light on the figure of the peasant and his surroundings. The artist masterly applying the pastel technique, creating textures and rendering the colours of the golden field with utmost plasticity and wealth. It displays to perfection the vibrant palette of the Mediterranean region, whose powerful light provides the ideal conditions to practice painting au plein air.