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Lesson Plans—Works of Art
Object Descriptions and Suggested Discussion Questions

Vincent van Gogh (Dutch 1853–1890, active in France 1886–1890) Landscape with Figures, 1889 Oil on canvas The Baltimore Museum of Art: The Cone Collection, formed by Dr. Claribel Cone and Miss Etta Cone of Baltimore, Maryland BMA 1950.303

Vincent van Gogh dabbled in a few different careers before taking up the life of a painter. He spent his early years working as an art dealer in his family’s business, followed by a year of teaching in England and then some time as a lay preacher in Belgium among poverty-stricken coal miners. Deeply affected by his time amongst the poor and inspired by the art of Jean-François Millet, Van Gogh turned to painting and began depicting scenes from the lives of peasants. Van Gogh’s artistic scope grew throughout his life, and he is now known for his still lifes, haunting self-portraits and dynamic landscapes.

Landscape with Figures demonstrates Van Gogh’s rhythmic style and love of color. He filled the canvas with short brushstrokes of complementary colors like green and red. He used black paint to outline trees, mountains and the female figure. Warm yellow strokes blanket the areas where he observed sunlight falling on the fields and trees. The bands of color in the fields help create a sense of the distance, pushing our eye back toward the mountains in blue shadow. The female figure, the long diagonal lines of the terrain and the artist’s staccato brushstrokes lead our attention to the whitewashed farmhouse in the upper right corner of the painting. After careful inspection, one can see two small figures bending over the green field. The whole landscape seems to pulse with a quiet energy.

Van Gogh probably painted this scene in the southern French town of Saint-Rémy. Bouts of mental illness spurred Van Gogh to seek the advice of doctors there. His correspondence with his brother Theo, an art dealer, reveals much about his work and his frame of mind. In a letter dated November 2, 1889 (the same month currently attributed to the completion of this painting), Van Gogh describes an approach he was taking toward his current work. After requesting that his brother send more paints, he writes, “I beg you to believe that in landscape I am going on trying to mass things by means of a drawing style that tries to express the interlocking of the masses.” The short, rhythmic brushstrokes of Landscape with Figures are indicative of this method. In the same letter, he states, “I am very well— except for a great depression sometimes.” The following year Van Gogh sought treatment at a sanitarium in the town of Auvers, located 20 miles north of Paris. Unfortunately, he was unable to find rest and recovery from his depression. The artist shot himself in the chest in Auvers on July 27, 1890. He died two days later.

Suggested Discussion Questions

• What kind of lines do you see in this painting—diagonal, horizontal, vertical?
• Where do those lines carry your eyes?
• How does Van Gogh make things in the distance seem farther away?
  What kind of mood do you associate with this painting? What helps create that mood?