Hard Work won the Gold Medal at the 1879 Paris Salon and is his most outstanding. This extraordinary work portrays a group of laborers picking potatoes in the French countryside, and resounds with a sense of peace. Pastoral scenes were Laugee's forte, and his talent for depicting light and detail is evident in the rolling clouds, far-reaching fields, and the laborers' painstakingly-executed facial expressions.

Georges Laugée was born in Montivilliers on December 19, 1853. He learned much about painting from his father, Désiré Laugée, an important French Realist who specialized in portraying the workers of the French countryside. He continued his studies at l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, where he studied at the studios of Isidore Pils and Henri Lehmann, and where he mastered the art of life studies and sketching. Laugée made his debut at the Paris Salon in 1877 to outstanding reviews. In 1881 he was awarded the bronze medal, and, in 1879, he won the gold medal for this particular composition, Hard Work. In 1889 he participated in the Exposition Universelle, where he received a bronze medal and was later awarded the silver medal in 1900. From 1907 to 1909 Laugée was a Membre du Comité de la Société des Artistes Français and was a member of the Jury at the Laugée's first studio, located at 20, Boulevard Flandrin, Paris, was also the home of the great realist artist Julien Dupré (Laugée's brother-in-law) and just after Dupré's death in 1910, Laugee moved to 23, boulevard Lannes. By 1923 he had relocated to 123, Rue de la Tour; where it appears that he remained for the rest of his life.