Farmhouse in Provence

Van Gogh painted Provençal farmhouses during his first Arles summer as part of his systematic documentation of the landscape and architecture of the region. The farmhouses of Provence — typically long, low, pale-rendered buildings set in scrubby garrigue — offered him a domestic architecture radically different from the steep-roofed Dutch farms he had painted at Nuenen. He was drawn to the way they sat in the landscape as if grown from it, and to the quality of the light on their surfaces at different hours. The NGA Washington version of this subject is one of the most resolved of the series, combining clear geometric structure with the chromatic boldness he had been developing since Paris.

The farmhouse is set against a deep blue sky with crisp architectural definition. The foreground field — lavender or wheat — is rendered in short, directional strokes of blue-violet and gold that create a distinctive textural contrast with the smooth walls. Cypresses in the middle ground add vertical drama.