La Maison de la Crau 1888

Vincent van Gogh’s 'La Maison de la Crau' is a landscape painted with oil on canvas, using expressive brushwork, a technique tied to the advent of mass-produced paints that came in tubes. Consider Van Gogh’s loaded brushstrokes, applied with an urgency that can be seen as a kind of ‘work’ in itself. The materiality of the paint, thickly applied, speaks to the artist’s physical engagement with the medium. He’s building up a surface, almost like a mason with bricks and mortar. The painting’s textures suggest a parallel between the labor of the artist and the rural labor that supported agrarian society. The brushstrokes mirror the cultivation of land, capturing the essence of the French countryside. This approach blurs the boundaries between representation and raw material. In doing so, Van Gogh elevates the everyday. He’s prompting us to reflect on the work inherent in both art and life itself.