The Sheepshearer (after Millet)

The Sheepshearer (after Millet) is one of Van Gogh's translations of Millet's celebrated series depicting the seasons of agricultural labour. Executed in 1889 at Saint-Rémy, it shows Van Gogh engaging with the physical act of shearing — a stooped, effortful relationship between worker and animal — through Millet's compositional framework while injecting it with his own intense colour and textural energy. The shearing scene represented a specific moment of seasonal rural life in France and the Netherlands that resonated strongly with Van Gogh's reverence for working people. His brother Theo had sent him a set of Millet reproductions to work from during the confinement.

The compact, closed form of shearer and sheep provides a concentrated focal mass around which Van Gogh builds the landscape setting. Brushwork differentiates between the animal's fleece, the worker's clothing, and the ground plane, each receiving a distinct mark-making approach suited to its material character.