Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890)

J.B. [Minus] Oostrijck, Etten

Sale Rotterdam [Van Marle and de Sille] 15-17 December 1948, no 40

L. van Zanten Art Gallery, Rotterdam

Mainz and Legat Art Gallery, The Hague

P. Citroen, Wassenaar

Private Collection, The Netherlands

The Complete Letters of Vincent van Gogh (3 vols), Boston (1958) 1988.

J.B. de la Faille, Vincent van Gogh. The Complete Works on Paper, San Francisco, [1979] 1992, p. 574, no 1676, p. 574.

E. van Uitert, ‘Vincent van Gogh, boerenschilder’, Van Gogh in Brabant. Schilderijen en Tekeningen uit Etten en Nuenen, exhibition catalogue Noordbrabants Museum, ‘s-Hertogenbosch, 1987-88, p. 29.

J. Hulsker, Van Gogh en zijn Weg. Het Complete Werk, Amsterdam, 1989, no 36

H. van Crimpen, M. Berends-Albert (eds), De brieven van Vincent van Gogh (4 vols), The Hague 1990.

T. Kodera, Vincent van Gogh. Christianity versus Nature, Amsterdam, Philadelphia, 1990, p.29.

E.N. Heenk, Van Gogh’s Drawings. An Analysis of their Production and Uses, PhD. thesis (Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London, London), 1995, as Landscape under a stormy sky, p. 96-97.

In Etten, where Vincent van Gogh stayed with his parents from the end of April to the end of December 1881, the artist made as many studies as he could, "for that is the seed which must later produce the drawings." Because Van Gogh had started his career as a draughtsman relatively late in life, he studied at full speed, with a lot of energy and devotion. Since he lacked a formal academic training, he had to learn through self-education. His approach was systematic and reflected great seriousness.

During his stay of eight months in Etten he concentrated on making studies of models, and also busily executed studies of his surroundings when the weather allowed working outdoors. The survival rate of the studies made in Etten is particularly low. Only a couple of drawings were actually sent to his brother Theo, which partly explains why so few works from Etten survived. It seems that many drawings were left behind in Etten when Van Gogh moved to The Hague.

Field of Stubble with a Thunderstorm Overhead dates from September 1881. In a letter to Theo he referred to it as a "field of stubble, where they are ploughing and sowing. I made a rather large sketch of it, with a thunderstorm overhead." Letter 171 [150] about September 1881.

This particular letter contains several sketches, the first of which shows the landscape under a stormy sky. Enthusiastically he wrote to Theo that his drawing technique had improved: "I no longer stand helpless before nature, as I used to."

Interestingly, the final drawing is slightly different from the letter sketch. The female figure on the far right does not appear on the large composition. The measurements of the paper are also smaller than the format of paper he was using at the time. The sheet appears to be trimmed on the right, possibly at the time.

It is one of the earliest examples of the integration of one or more studies of models into a larger composition. The female sower in the foreground, which must have been the subject of a study that is now lost, was copied onto this large composition. On the basis of information in a letter to Theo it is well possible that Van Gogh also used a study of a plough to be integrated in the drawing: "I also try to draw the implements, such as a wagon, plough, harrow, wheelbarrow…" Letter 166 [145] May 1881. Finding people who could pose for him was not easy: "… what a tough job it is to make people understand how to pose. Folks are desperately obstinate about it, and it is hard to make them yield on this point; they only want to pose in their Sunday best …" Letter 169 [148] [beginning of August 1881.

Field of Stubble with a Thunderstorm Overhead is a particularly impressive work with a dark, ominous sky and figures working in the fields which are convincing.

For a study, the drawing is rather elaborate and carefully worked. Like several Etten drawings from the end of August or from September, it has been executed in various different materials. When Van Gogh went to The Hague in August 1881 he paid a visit to his uncle the famous Hague School artist Anton Mauve (1838-88). Upon seeing Van Gogh’s drawings Mauve thought he had made some progress since the last time, and advised him to start working with materials such as charcoal, and chalk, and to use a brush and a stump. Van Gogh followed up the advice and began using different combinations of materials, rather than using exclusively pencil and ink. Field of Stubble with a Thunderstorm Overhead has been made in pencil, charcoal, coloured chalk and white heightening on a laid paper with the PL BAS watermark. Like the majority of his studies made at that time, it was probably kept in the artist’s studio in Etten until mid November 1881. This provided him with the opportunity to further elaborate the drawing.

A couple of weeks after executing the drawing he wrote: "Nature always begins by resisting the artist, but he who really takes it seriously does not allow that resistance to put him off his stride; on the contrary, it is that much more of a stimulus to fight for victory, and at bottom nature and a true artist agree… after one has struggled and wrestled with nature sometimes she becomes a little more docile and yields." Letter 174 [152] mid October 1881.

Van Gogh’s choice of subjectmatter shows a strong preference for the tradition of Barbizon school, i.e. life and labour in the countryside. His admiration for painters such as Millet is well known. It has been noted by Professor Evert van Uitert that the motif of the sower and ploughing man in the current work shows some similarity with Plough and Sowing by the Barbizon painter Charles E. Jacque.

We kindly thank Dr. E.N. Heenk for cataloguing this work.