Snow-Covered Field with a Harrow (after Millet)

Painted at Saint-Rémy in January 1890, this interpretation of Millet's Harrow under Snow belongs to Van Gogh's sustained engagement with the older artist's work during his asylum stay. Van Gogh made over twenty copies after Millet, whom he venerated as the supreme painter of peasant labor. Working from black-and-white engravings — he had no access to the originals — he effectively translated Millet's compositions into his own expressive chromatic language. The snow-covered field and harrow, symbols of dormant agricultural labor awaiting spring renewal, had particular resonance for Van Gogh in the midst of his mental and physical crisis.

Van Gogh translates Millet's composition into his distinctive vocabulary of directional brushstrokes, the snow field rendered in blues and whites with strokes following the land's contours. The bare harrow is a dark silhouette against the pale field. A brooding winter sky closes the composition from above.