Sheet with Sketches of a Digger and Other Figures 1890

This is a sketch by Vincent van Gogh, titled “Sheet with Sketches of a Digger and Other Figures,” currently held at the Morgan Library and Museum in New York. Van Gogh’s artistic vision was deeply intertwined with his empathy for the working class. In this sketch, the figures—particularly the digger—are rendered with a raw, almost urgent quality. It reflects Van Gogh's desire to capture the essence of labor and the dignity of the working person. His own struggles with poverty and social acceptance shaped his perception of the world and fueled his desire to depict the lives of those often overlooked by society. The sketch is less about traditional representation and more about conveying the emotional and physical realities of these individuals. There's a weight to the digger’s pose, a sense of the toll that labor takes on the body. Van Gogh once wrote of his belief that art should express genuine emotion. The sketch invites us to consider the intersections of class, labor, and artistic representation in the 19th century and today.