Wheat Field

Van Gogh's Wheat Field of 1888, now in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, belongs to his many depictions of the Provençal agricultural landscape around Arles. The Rijksmuseum's holding of this work — the national museum of the Netherlands holding a painting by the Dutch artist made in the south of France — represents the way Van Gogh's legacy has been claimed by his homeland while his greatest works belong to his southern period. The wheat field subject was one he returned to obsessively, finding in the seasonal character of agricultural grain a way to organize both time and light.

The wheat field is rendered with Van Gogh's characteristic directional brushwork — horizontal rows of strokes following the growth of the grain, punctuated by the vertical movement of individual stalks in the breeze. The palette captures the golden quality of ripe wheat under Provence's intense summer light. The sky above contrasts the warm field with cooler blues and whites.