The Sower III (version 1)

Van Gogh's Sower III (Version 1), painted at Arles in 1888 and now in the Bührle Collection in Zurich, is one of multiple treatments of this Millet-derived subject that he made during the Arles period. The sower — dark figure casting seed against a blazing sun — was for Van Gogh a symbol of creative energy and hope, the act of sowing an analogy for the artist's work. He identified with the Millet sower as someone who works without guarantee of harvest. The Bührle Collection's version, like the others in this series, captures the silhouetted figure against the glowing landscape with extraordinary chromatic intensity.

The sower's dark silhouette moves across the luminous landscape, the enormous sun on the horizon radiating outward in swirling strokes. Van Gogh's complementary palette — yellow sun and field against blue-violet sky and earth — creates maximum chromatic vibration. The figure is simplified to essential gesture, the sun and its radiation the painting's true subject.