Wheatfield under Thunderclouds

Auvers-sur-Oise, July 1890 Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890)

oil on canvas, 50.4 cm x 101.3 cm
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)

In the last weeks of his life, Van Gogh completed a number of impressive paintings of the wheatfields around Auvers. This outspread field under a dark sky is one of them.

In these landscapes he tried to express 'sadness, extreme loneliness'. But the overwhelming emotions that Van Gogh experienced in nature were also positive. He wrote to his brother Theo, 'I'd almost believe that these canvases will tell you what I can't say in words, what I consider healthy and fortifying about the countryside.'

The elongated format of Wheatfields under Thunderclouds is unusual. It emphasizes the grandeur of the landscape, as does the simple composition: two horizontal planes.

F-number

F0778

JH-number

JH2097

Object number

s0106V1962

Credits

Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)

Dimensions

50.4 cm x 101.3 cm, 70.0 cm x 121.0 cm