A Peasant Woman Digging in Front of Her Cottage

If you did not see the attribution here would you have guessed the artist? Vincent van Gogh remains a fascinating giant in the art world. His entire artistic career, from the time he decided to quit his day job and focus on becoming a painter, spans less than 10 years. During that time, though, he was able to produce over 2,000 works. Consider also that he began his painterly wanderings with a somber palette and a more traditional, realistic approach. When he finally moved to Paris in 1886, he encountered styles and techniques and artists, including the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists. Most transformational for Van Gogh, however, was his exposure to new books and thoughts on color theory. He rapidly absorbed everything and created those amazing canvases that we think of today as quintessential Van Gogh in the final three (!) years of his life. What an absolutely amazing burst of creativity.

Before the move to Paris, though, Van Gogh captured many images of peasants and everyday life using darker, earthier tones that lend a subdued atmosphere to the images. A Peasant Woman Digging in Front of Her Cottage is an example of his early focus on peasant life. He captures the world of the peasantry and gives us a woman working the land and yet noble for all her toils. Her cottage is rendered with strong brushwork. Her green dress is simple but adds a sense of style and intensity. The trees in the background give an early inkling to the artist’s later renderings of the natural world. This is not the later frenetic, wildly colored Van Gogh, but it reveals his early innate sense of composition and mood.

- Brad Allen

P.S. Here are other 7 van Gogh’s extraordinary paintings you’ve probably never seen!