Early Paintings by Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh’s Peat Field is an oil oncanvas (10-3/4x14-1/4 inches) housed in theVan Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

Vincent van Gogh completed Peat Field in 1883, after his move to the picturesque province of Drenthe, Netherlands. The painting reflects van Gogh’s focus on the subject of agricultural labor.

The heavy, bent forms of the women working in the field, reduced almost to silhouette, recall the monumental solidity of the figures in Jean-François Millet's The Gleaners (1857). But the daring handling of the sky, in striations of green, orange, and gold, is van Gogh's own bold concept.

The Loom explores the theme of mundane work -- a recurring one in van Gogh's early works. Learn about this painting in the next section.

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