Wheatfield with Crows
An 1890 oil painting by Vincent van Gogh depicting a wheat field beneath a turbulent sky, crossed by three paths and filled with crows.
Vincent van Gogh: A Dutch Post-Impressionist painter whose expressive landscapes and portraits shaped modern art. He painted the work at Auvers-sur-Oise in the final weeks of his life.
Auvers-sur-Oise: A village northwest of Paris where Van Gogh lived and worked during the final months of his life. The painting was made in the fields surrounding this village.
Wheat Field with Cypresses: A series of 1889 paintings by Van Gogh showing wheat fields framed by tall cypress trees. These earlier fields contrast the painting’s open horizon and unsettled paths.
Van Gogh's suicide: Vincent van Gogh’s death in July 1890 after a gunshot wound, generally understood as suicide. The painting’s ominous appearance is often tied to his death, but no direct evidence establishes that link.
Post-Impressionism: A late nineteenth-century art movement that extended Impressionism through stronger structure, symbolism, and subjective expression. The painting’s expressive color and brushwork belong to this broader movement.
1890 in art: The year 1890 in the history of visual art and artistic production. The work belongs to Van Gogh’s prolific final year.
Wheatfield under Thunderclouds: An 1890 Van Gogh landscape of a wheat field beneath a dark, clouded sky. Its closely related subject and date illuminate his repeated treatment of fields at Auvers.
Symbolism in art: The use of images, objects, or colors to convey meanings beyond their literal depiction. Interpretations of the crows and paths often treat them as symbols rather than landscape details.
Impasto: A painting technique in which paint is applied thickly enough to retain visible texture. Van Gogh’s forceful, visible strokes give the field and sky physical texture.
Van Gogh's final weeks: The last weeks of Vincent van Gogh’s life, spent in and around Auvers-sur-Oise in 1890. The painting’s date has encouraged links to this period, though its exact chronology is uncertain.