VINCENT VAN GOGH | Peasant Woman Seated

Kunstzalen Oldenzeel, Rotterdam (circa 1902-04) Galerie E. Blot, Paris

A. Loewy, Paris (acquired by 1928)

Private Collection, Paris (acquired in the early 1930s)

With Prof. Paul Stolz, Werdorf (acquired circa 1934)

Avanti Galleries Inc., New York

Acquired from the above by the present owner in 1994

New York, Avanti Galleries Inc., Vincent van Gogh: Works from the Dutch Period, 1995, no. 6, illustrated in the catalogue

Jacob-Baart de la Faille, L'Œuvre de Vincent van Gogh. Catalogue raisonné, Paris & Brussels, 1928, vol. I, no. 126, catalogued p. 44; vol. II, no. 126, illustrated pl. XXXIV (titled Paysanne de Nuenen)

Walther Vanbeselaere, De hollandsche periode (1880-1885) in het werk van Vincent van Gogh, Antwerp, 1937, pp. 300, 374 & 415 Jacob-Baart de la Faille, Vincent van Gogh, Paris, 1939, no. 150, illustrated p. 129 (titled Paysanne de Nuenen)

Jacob-Baart de la Faille, The Works of Vincent van Gogh: His Paintings and Drawings, London, 1970, no. F 126, illustrated p. 84

Paolo Lecaldano, Tout l'œuvre peint de Van Gogh, Paris, 1971, no. 175, illustrated p. 105 (titled Paysanne de Nuenen)

Jan Hulsker, The Complete Van Gogh: Paintings, Drawings, Sketches, New York & Oxford, 1980, no. 800, illustrated p. 179

Jan Hulsker, The Complete Van Gogh: Paintings, Drawings, Sketches, New York, 1984, no. 800, illustrated p. 179

Ingo F. Walther & Rainer Metzger, Vincent van Gogh: Sämtliche Gemälde, Cologne, 1989, vol. I, illustrated in colour p. 106

Jan Hulsker, The New Complete Van Gogh: Paintings, Drawings, Sketches, Amsterdam, 1996, no. 800, illustrated p. 179

Sjraar van Heugten, Vincent van Gogh. Drawings, Amsterdam & Bussum, 1997, vol. 2, mentioned pp. 192 & 194

Ingo F. Walther & Rainer Metzger, Vincent van Gogh: The Complete Paintings, Cologne, 2001, illustrated in colour p. 106

The present portrait of a peasant woman seated on a chair was painted in June 1885, during the potato harvest. Van Gogh created numerous studies of hands and heads of peasants absorbed in their work but only very few of full-length figures, culminating in what would become his first masterpiece, The Potato Eaters. He preferred presenting figures in profile, their dark silhouettes contrasting with the monochrome background. Similarly, the sitter in the present work averts her gaze from the viewer and appears absorbed in her surroundings creating a sense of isolation with which the artist most likely identified. Van Gogh came to Nuenen to master the technique of drawing and considered this a priority before attempting to proceed painting in oil. While most preparatory works were drawings, in this case, he clearly felt ready to move on to painting and the present work is a testament to his growing artistic maturity. It is one of only a dozen oil paintings he produced as part of this series, several of which are in museums including the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam and Musée d’Orsay, Paris.



The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam.