The sower

Millet Van Gogh ’s example for this painting is The sower from 1850 by French painter Jean-François Millet, whom he admires greatly. He makes dozens of drawings after his great example, but in Arles he wants to paint a new, ‘modern’ version. Not dark, grey and without much colour, like Millet, but with radiant colours and sharp contrasts. Thickly applied paint All the attention is drawn to the field with clods of earth, painted in thickly applied, blue-violet and orange paint, almost like a relief.