Wheatfield with a Stook and a Mill 1885

This drawing of a wheatfield with a mill was made by Vincent van Gogh in the Netherlands. Through the image, Van Gogh questions the social structures of his time. Here, the visual codes speak of the importance of land for the Dutch economy and national identity. The wheatfield and the mill are cultural references, suggesting that the historical associations between these structures are important in understanding the nation and in the promotion of certain images about rural life. We might consider how specific features of Dutch culture, such as geography and economic structures, influenced this artwork. The politics of imagery are at play here, too. The images are a potent comment on the social structures of the time. To understand the meaning of this art, we need to consider the social and institutional context of its production, perhaps looking at agricultural records, historical surveys of Dutch industry, and so on.