Thatched Houses against a Hill 1890

Vincent van Gogh made this painting with oil on canvas, and his signature mark-making is immediately apparent. Look closely, and you can see how the materiality of the paint influences the image. The thick impasto wasn’t just about representing what he saw, but it was also about process. Van Gogh applied the paint in these assertive strokes, dragging the brush and layering colors to build up texture and depth. The materiality of the thatched roofs is evoked by the way Van Gogh physically built up the surface of the painting, piling on paint to mimic the rough texture of the straw. The way he depicted the houses, so closely nestled together, suggests the communal aspect of rural life. Van Gogh wasn’t just showing us a place, but telling us about a way of life that was intrinsically connected to the landscape and the materials it provided. Considering the labor involved in both building these structures and representing them on canvas underscores how material culture and artistic expression are deeply intertwined.