Woman Lifting Potatoes
Currently on view
Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890), Nuenen, July-August 1885
oil on canvas on panel, 41.8 cm x 32.5 cm
Credits: Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (bequest of Dr. M. Rehfisch)
This farm worker is lifting potatoes out of the soil with a fork. For Van Gogh, this painting was an exercise in 'modelling' figures. Having been criticised for the stiff, flat figures in The Potato Eaters, he was trying to give this one a bit more life and volume. The woman's pose is still slightly rigid. The proportions are not quite right either: her head is too small compared to her body, her hands are huge, and her wooden shoes are gigantic. In the sky, there is a tiny hint of blue.
- F-number
- F0147
- JH-number
- JH0891
- Object number
- s0452S1995
- Dimensions
- 41.8 cm x 32.5 cm, 54 cm x 43.5 cm, 5.5 cm
- Provenance
- Probably left by the artist with his mother, A.C. van Gogh-Carbentus, Nuenen/Breda, sometime between November 1885 and February 1886; given in safekeeping to Janus Schrauwen, Breda, April 1888; left with Janus Schrauwen by A.C. van Gogh-Carbentus after her move to Leiden, 1889; sold by Janus Schrauwen to Jan C. Couvreur, 14 August 1902; sold by Jan C. Couvreur to Kees Mouwen Jr and Willem van Bakel, Breda, 1902-03; given on consignment by Kees Mouwen Jr and Willem van Bakel to Kunstzalen Oldenzeel, Rotterdam; 1904, sold by Kunstzalen Oldenzeel, to J. Smit, Alblasserdam, probably at their exhibition (Tentoonstelling van werken door Vincent van Gogh), cat. 23 (Spittende vrouw); after his death in 1918, sold at sale 10 February 1919 Amsterdam, Mak, (Eene bekende en fraaie verzameling moderne schilderijen en eenige beeldhouwwerken [...]), lot 33 (Aardappelenrooister) for NLG 3.100 to J.J. Enthoven, Voorburg; 1952 sold by J.J. Enthoven to Kunsthandel W. Brinkman, Schipluiden; sold by W. Brinkman to M. Rehfisch, Laren, after 1952; after her death on 2 March 1994 her legacy in 1995 the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam.
- artist
- Vincent van Gogh
- Credits
- Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (bequest of Dr. M. Rehfisch)
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, De Aardappeleters: misser of meesterwerk?, 8 October 2021-13 February 2022
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Van Goghs brieven. De kunstenaar aan het woord, 9 October 2009-3 January 2010
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Gogh Modern. Vincent van Gogh en de hedendaagse kunst, 27 June-12 October 2003, no. zonder nr.
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Boerenleven, 29 October 1999-16 January 2000
Rotterdam, Kunstzalen Oldenzeel, Tentoonstelling van werken door Vincent van Gogh, 10 November-18 December 1904, no. 23
Vanbeselaere, Walther, hollandsche periode (1880-1885) in het werk van Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), 1937, p. 304, 374, 393, 415