The Fields 1890

Editor: This is Van Gogh's "The Fields," painted in 1890, with oil paint. The churning sky and the heavy application of paint – the impasto – makes me think about the labor involved in both farming the fields and creating the artwork. What catches your eye about it? Curator: For me, the intense materiality speaks volumes. Look at how Van Gogh uses the oil paint, almost sculpturally, to depict the fields and the sky. It's not just about representation; it's about the very physicality of the labor and materials. Consider how the process of making mirrors the act of tilling the soil. Editor: That's interesting. It's almost like he's mimicking the farmer's actions with his brushstrokes, showing the raw energy involved. Does the setting affect how you perceive its materiality? Curator: Absolutely. Van Gogh painted this in the asylum at Saint-Rémy. The field is no longer simply a field; it's the object of labor and of viewing and also a raw resource converted through strenuous production of art and grain. Editor: It is a very confined picture space though. I wouldn't have immediately thought of an asylum based on the subject. The horizon feels a long way away... Curator: And yet, it does. The low horizon, along with his visible labor, makes me wonder how he regarded the working people from this area in France. Is it about documenting a landscape, or a reflection on its people who sustain it? The labor involved is inherent in both production and how we should interpret Van Gogh’s work. Editor: I hadn't considered that perspective before, thank you! Seeing the art this way encourages you to connect to labor practices outside the subject and production. Curator: Indeed. Considering materiality and production opens so much about social structures and the labor inherent to both art and society.