Women Crossing the Fields

Vincent van Gogh enjoyed wandering the countryside and frequently painted these pastoral scenes. Produced in the last year of the artist’s life, this vibrant painting demonstrates all of Van Gogh’s mark-making skill.

Repeated lines, dots, and dashes of color evoke movement and suggest depth; hats, hands, and bell-shaped dresses appear to sway back and forth as the figures move along the path. Cool blues push the sky back, shades of green occupy the middle ground, and the figures come to the foreground with bright white and dots of orange. The cardboard on which this is painted adds background tones, simultaneously representing clouds, house, and path.

Van Gogh has captured the essence of nature as he sees and feels it.