Artwork
The Sower (Sower at Sunset)
The Sower (Sower at Sunset) is an oil painting by the Post-Impressionist artist Vincent van Gogh. It dates from 1888 and is held in the collection of the Kröller-Müller Museum.
About this work
Overview
Vincent van Gogh’s 1888 oil painting known as The Sower (also titled Sower at Sunset) portrays a solitary agricultural worker scattering seed across a cultivated field beneath a vivid evening sky. The composition balances the figure’s forward motion with a glowing sunset, creating a scene that captures both the labor of sowing and the fleeting light of day’s end.
Subject & Meaning
The central figure, a farmer dressed in a blue shirt and brown trousers, is caught mid‑gesture, arm extended as he releases seed onto the earth. The surrounding landscape, rendered in warm yellows and browns, suggests a ripe field ready for harvest, while the intense orange‑red sky hints at the cyclical relationship between human effort and natural cycles.
Technique & Style
Van Gogh employs thick impasto, applying paint in heavy, textured strokes that give the ground and sky a palpable surface. The brushwork is vigorous, especially in the swirling clouds and the luminous sun, whose bright yellow disc seems to pulse against the deep orange horizon, reinforcing the painting’s sense of motion and vitality.
History & Provenance
Created during van Gogh’s productive Arles period, The Sower was later acquired by the Kröller‑Müller Museum in the Netherlands, where it remains part of the institution’s extensive collection of the artist’s works. The museum’s holdings provide a contextual framework for understanding this piece within van Gogh’s broader exploration of rural labor and light.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Vincent Willem van Gogh was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art.
