Still Life with Coffee Pot 1888

This sketch of a still life with a coffee pot was made by Vincent van Gogh, probably in France, using pen and ink on paper, some time in the late 1880s. The image gives us a glimpse into the artist's daily life, with domestic objects arranged on a table, but it is also part of a conversation with his brother Theo. The text surrounding the sketch is a letter describing the picture, and it shows us how van Gogh used drawing not just as a mode of artistic expression but also as a means of communicating his ideas about art. Van Gogh had a troubled relationship with the established art world. He struggled to find acceptance in the conservative academic art scene. He was interested in the potential of art to represent ordinary life, and to express intense emotion. To understand an image like this more fully we can look at the artist's letters and other written documents, as well as the art institutions and social structures of his time. These resources can help us to better understand this drawing within its original cultural context.