Green Ears of Wheat

Van Gogh's Green Ears of Wheat, painted at Arles in 1888 and now at the Israel Museum Jerusalem, captures wheat in an early growing stage — not the golden ripeness of harvest but the vivid green of summer's growth. Observing crops at different stages of development was for Van Gogh part of his sustained attention to the agricultural cycle, and this study of green wheat is complementary to his famous yellow harvest scenes. The specific green of growing wheat — vivid, cool, urgent — gives this painting a freshness different from the warmer tonality of the harvest subjects.

The green wheat fills the composition with cool, vivid vegetable color — a welcome contrast to the warm ochres that dominate Van Gogh's Arles work. His brushwork follows the direction of the growing stalks with characteristic attentiveness, each row of strokes capturing the upward thrust of the grain. The palette is dominated by greens with contrasting blues of sky above.