The Sower (Sower at Sunset)

The Sower at Sunset, painted at Arles in the autumn of 1888, is among Van Gogh's most iconic works — the silhouetted sower in the left foreground, the enormous sun on the horizon, and the vast expanse of furrowed soil create an image of labor and elemental force that transcends mere genre painting. The Millet source is evident — Van Gogh had studied the Barbizon master's sower intensively since his earliest drawing years — but the Arles version transforms the subject through the blazing Provençal light and Van Gogh's fully developed Impressionist-inflected palette. The Kröller-Müller Museum's version is among the most studied paintings in their collection.

The enormous sun at the painting's center radiates across the composition in concentric circular strokes, dominating sky and field with equal intensity. The sower's silhouetted figure moves diagonally across the lower left, his outline simple against the glowing ground. Van Gogh's palette maximizes the yellow-violet complementary contrast. The furrows of the plowed field are rendered with directional strokes that create both texture and perspective.