Listen to this article
0:00 / 3:12 · Read by ArtLogia
Workers harvest grapes in a vineyard turned red and gold by autumn, under a blazing setting sun reflected in a river. Painted in November 1888 in Arles, The Red Vineyard is traditionally known as the only painting Van Gogh sold during his lifetime.
In this article
An autumn evening in Arles
In early November 1888, Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin, who had joined him in Arles a few weeks earlier, went for a walk near the abbey of Montmajour and saw a vineyard glowing red and yellow in the setting sun, with workers bent over the vines. Van Gogh wrote to Theo that it was "red like red wine", turning yellow in the distance under a green sky, with a sun shining violet and yellow on the wet ground.
He painted the scene from memory in the studio, as Gauguin encouraged him to do. It was a new way of working for Van Gogh, who usually painted directly from nature.
The blazing sun
In the upper right, the sun burns as a disc of white and yellow above the horizon, its light pouring over the landscape. Its reflection shines in a river or irrigation canal that runs along the right side of the painting.
Detail 1
The setting sun
The sun is a thick disc of pale yellow and white. Its light floods the vineyard and turns the river into a band of gold.
The workers in the vines
Across the field, women and men in blue and black clothes bend to cut the grapes and carry baskets, their bodies painted with strong outlines. The red of the vines is so intense that the figures seem to be swimming in colour. Van Gogh admired Millet's paintings of peasants at work, and this harvest is a southern, colourful version of that tradition.
Detail 2Harvesters in the red vines
The workers bend among the vines, their dark clothes standing out against the fiery reds. Strong outlines show the influence of Gauguin and Japanese prints.
Detail 3A woman with a basket
In the foreground, a woman in a blue dress carries her harvest. The blue sets off the red around her, a play of complementary colours.
The road and the cart
At the top of the painting, beyond the vineyard, a horse and cart move along a road. On the right, a figure walks along the riverbank. These small details give depth to the scene and remind us that the harvest is part of the rhythm of village life.
Detail 4Horse and cart
A cart pulled by a horse travels along the road at the edge of the vineyard, a small sign of everyday life.
The painting that was sold
In 1890 the painting was shown in Brussels at the exhibition of Les XX, the Belgian avant-garde group. There it was bought for 400 francs by the painter Anna Boch, sister of Van Gogh's friend Eugène Boch. It is traditionally called the only painting Van Gogh sold in his lifetime, though historians have found evidence that other works were sold or exchanged. It remains the only one documented as sold at a public exhibition.
The painting later belonged to the Moscow collector Ivan Morozov, who bought it in 1909, and, after the Russian Revolution, entered the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow, where it hangs today. It measures about 75 by 93 centimetres.
Own a hand-painted copy
The Red Vineyard
Painted by hand in oil on canvas, any size. Free worldwide shipping.
From $299 — Make it yours.Frequently asked questions
Is The Red Vineyard the only painting Van Gogh sold?
It is traditionally called the only painting he sold in his lifetime, bought by Anna Boch in 1890, although other sales and exchanges have since been documented.
Where is the vineyard in The Red Vineyard?
It is near the abbey of Montmajour, outside Arles, in Provence.
Did Van Gogh paint The Red Vineyard from life?
He painted it from memory in his studio, after seeing the scene with Paul Gauguin.
Where is The Red Vineyard?
It is in the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow.
Sources and further reading
- Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, collection notes on The Red Vineyard
- Vincent van Gogh, letter to Theo van Gogh, November 1888
- Martin Bailey, Studio of the South: Van Gogh in Provence (2016)
