Peasant Woman Lifting Potatoes 1885

Vincent van Gogh drew this study of a peasant woman in the Netherlands using chalk in the 1880s. Van Gogh's early work often focused on the lives of working-class people, seeking to depict their hard labor with empathy. The woman's bent posture and earth-toned clothing emphasize her connection to the soil. In the background, the inclusion of a windmill, a common feature of the Dutch landscape, roots the image in a specific time and place. It is worth considering how the art world of Van Gogh's time was changing. Academic art was losing ground, and there was a growing interest in Realism, with artists wanting to show life as it truly was for ordinary people. By turning his attention to the rural poor, Van Gogh challenged the art establishment's focus on more traditionally "beautiful" or noble subjects. To understand Van Gogh's artistic choices, one could research the social and economic conditions of Dutch peasants in the late 19th century, along with exhibition histories and critical reviews of the period.