Meadow with Flowers 1888

Vincent van Gogh sketched 'Meadow with Flowers' with a reed pen in the late 1880s, a time when the industrialized world was rapidly encroaching on rural life. This drawing encapsulates the anxieties and yearnings of an era marked by profound social and economic change. Van Gogh, deeply affected by the stark realities of class disparities, often sought solace and inspiration in the natural world. Here, the meadow isn't just a landscape; it's a space teeming with the vitality of the working class, who were intimately connected to the land. The rhythmic strokes of the reed pen evoke the labor and toil of agricultural workers, embodying their connection to the earth. Van Gogh once said, "the emotions are sometimes so strong that I work without knowing it." This deeply personal connection to the land, and those who worked it, offers a poignant commentary on the societal divisions of his time. It speaks to the emotional and physical distance growing between the wealthy and the working class.