Peasant Woman Binding Sheaves by Vincent Van Gogh

Peasant Woman Binding Sheaves (after Millet) by Vincent Van Gogh, oil on canvas 1889, is a painting of a woman in a wheat field harvesting and tying together stacks of hay. Van Gogh copied this composition from a work by the French Barbizon painter Jean-Francois Millet, translating Millet’s classical realism and earthy palette into the brightly coloured palette and bold drawing of the Post-Impressionist style, with subtle contrasts of warm yellows and greens with cool blue and greys. Van Gogh painted numerous copies after artists that he admired in the final years of his life, translating the technique of previous generations of artists into the new, modern language of colour. Vincent Van Gogh (1853 - 1890) was a Dutch painter of the Post-Impressionist movement known for bold, expressive drawing, swirling brushstrokes and bold, heightened colours. In early adulthood Van Gogh worked as an art dealer, teacher and pastor before taking up the full time study of drawing and painting in his late twenties. Influenced by Rembrandt, the 19th century Realists and Barbizon school, Van Gogh's early paintings featured studies of workers and peasants in sombre earth tones. Moving to France in 1886, Van Gogh met with the startling innovations of the Impressionist painters and began to apply their approach to colour and subject matter, which continued into the mature style for which the artist is most renowned. Van Gogh produced many hundreds of drawings and paintings including portraits, landscapes, still life and flower paintings, and numerous self-portraits that became a dominating influence on the modern art of the 20th century and made him one of the most popular artists of all time.