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Vincent van Gogh, 'Landscape with Ploughman', 1889

About the work

Van Gogh painted this view from his window at the asylum in Saint-Rémy, following a severe epileptic attack which had prevented him from painting. Typical of his work at this date, the scene is based on direct observation but is laden with personal meaning. The hardworking ploughman, tilling the soil at dawn, becomes a symbol for the artist himself: in October 1889, Van Gogh wrote to his mother, ‘I am ploughing on my canvases as they do in their fields’. The heightened colours and animated, loaded brushwork also demonstrate Van Gogh’s increasing recognition that colour and surface had expressive potential, independent of the objects they described. This painting is one of many Van Gogh completed in the final two years of his life that celebrated the work of manual labourers, set in landscapes awash with vitality and movement.

Key facts

Full title
Landscape with Ploughman
Artist
Vincent van Gogh
Artist dates
1853 - 1890
Date made
1889
Medium and support
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
49 × 62 cm
Acquisition credit
Private collection
Inventory number
L1333
Location
Room 43
Image copyright
Private collection, © (c) Private collection. Photo: ÁùºÏ²ÊÔ¤²â, London
Collection
Main Collection

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the ÁùºÏ²ÊÔ¤²â Library.

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