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View gallery In Pictures: Van Gogh's Sower
Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) was born on 30 March 1853 in Groot-Zundert in the south of Holland. As a young man, he worked for his uncle in The Hague in an art dealers called Groupil & Cie., before transferring to the London and then Parisian branch. Van Gogh developed a keen interest in the arts, but chose to study theology and work as a lay preacher in England and Belgium for a short time. It was not until 1880 that he decided to become an artist and trained himself by reading theoretical art books. His early subject matter focused on peasants and landscapes, depicted in earthy tones.
In 1886 Van Gogh moved to Paris to live with his brother Theo, where he was influenced by the colourful work of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists and Japanese prints. In 1888, he escaped hectic Parisian life and settled in rural Arles in the south of France. His love of the countryside can be seen in the paintings he produced during this period. Van Gogh greatly admired the work of his friend the artist Paul Gauguin (1848–1903), whom he persuaded to live with him briefly in the Yellow House in Arles. However, their fiery relationship resulted in Gauguin’s departure. Van Gogh suffered the first of his mental breakdowns at the end of 1888 and in May 1889, at his own request, he was admitted to an asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence before moving to Auvers-sur-Oise near Paris in May 1890, to be cared for by the physician and amateur art collector Dr Gachet. Despite his extraordinary rate of production, Van Gogh committed suicide two months after his arrival.
During his lifetime Van Gogh produced over 2,000 artworks, often taking peasants, landscapes, the seasons, flowers and trees as his subject matter. Much of what we know about Van Gogh has been learnt from the hundreds of letters that he wrote to his brother Theo, who provided emotional, professional and financial support. His letters demonstrate the close relationship between his art and his intellectual life, and frequently discuss his ideas about colour theory, his attempts to master different artistic mediums, and his feelings about other artists to whom he looked for inspiration. In November 1888, Van Gogh wrote to Theo to tell him about his recent painting of a sower. Click on the gallery above and 'show caption' on each slide to find out more about Van Gogh’s The Sower (1888).
Credits
Vincent van Gogh, The Sower, November 1888
Oil on canvas, 32 x 40 cm
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
(Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
Letter 722
from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh
Arles, on or about Wednesday 21 November 1888
Sower with Setting Sun
letter sketch, 21 x 27 cm
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
(Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
Text written by Jessica Croll-Knight
Learning Department
© Royal Academy of Arts, 2010
Find out more about Van Gogh by downloading the education guide here. (3.8 MB)
