Reaper (after Millet), The

Van Gogh's Reaper (after Millet) from 1889 is another of his Saint-Rémy interpretations of the Barbizon master whose work had shaped his entire artistic development. The reaper — cutting grain at harvest, the most ancient of agricultural acts — was a subject Millet had treated as a meditation on mortality and the cycle of human labor. Van Gogh's version transforms the monochrome source into his own chromatic expression, finding in the reaper both Millet's social-realist dignity and his own profound identification with those who work with their bodies. The work is currently unlocated or in private hands.

Van Gogh's reaper brings Millet's figure into his own expressive language — the harvesting figure rendered with his characteristic directness, the surrounding landscape animated with his Saint-Rémy energy. His version of Millet's palette transforms neutral tones into his characteristic warm-cool complementary contrasts. The figure's physical engagement with the harvest is captured through posture and the relationship with the grain.