THE POTATO EATERS

The Potato Eaters is a painting by Dutch Post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh.
Van Gogh painted The Potato Eaters during his stay in Nuenen, Netherlands in April 1885. It may be regarded as the most well known of Vincent`s earlier works.

Van Gogh at first did sketched studies for the painting. Vincent then worked on the painting from April 13 through till the start of May. By this stage the painting was mostly finished except for some minor changes Vincent made with a small brush later that year.

Van Gogh said he wanted to depict peasants as they really were. Vincent had deliberately set out to choose coarse and ugly models for the painting. Van Gogh stated, "I wanted to convey the idea that the people eating potato's by the light of an oil lamp used the same hands with which they take food from the plate to work the land, that they have toiled with their hands—that they have earned their food by honest means." The bluntness of this painting is central to its theme. Van Gogh uses the painting to portray that these people had used the same hands they eat the potatos with, to dig the earth and had thus earned their meal honestly. It may be said that Van Gogh saw hardship all around him, and he brought this hardship of life to his paintings. It is interesting to note that Van Gogh thought this painting was a failure.


The Potato Eaters, 1885 Giclee Print
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Vincent Gogh