Vincent van Gogh
Before everything, take a moment and look at the sun, the sky, and the rays of light depicted on this painting. Even if you didn't know this work before, everything is visible from the first sight; it must be Vincent van Gogh.
The artist's inspiration for this painting was The Sower from 1850 by French painter Jean-François Millet, whom he admired greatly. He made dozens of drawings after Millet, but in Arles he wanted to paint a new, modern version. Not dark, grey, and without much color, like Millet, but with radiant colors and sharp contrasts. All the attention is drawn to the field with clods of earth, painted in thickly applied, blue-violet and orange paint, almost like a relief. The sower does his work and the sun dominates the scene as an eternal source of light and energy.
The striking aspect of this painting is that behind the sower, who sows the ploughed land with a broad arm gesture, the ripe corn can still be seen. With this, Van Gogh refers to the cycle of nature and of life. The theme of the sower also has a religious aspect for him: the sower on the land represents the sower of God’s word.
We present today's work thanks to the Kröller-Müller Museum. <3
P.S. Van Gogh often copied other great artists; check out some other famous examples beyond Jean-François Millet!
P.P.S. If you love van Gogh as much as we do, please check our van Gogh products: socks, notebooks, prints, and more!