Material Canvas laid on panel
Dimensions 12 x 16 in
Place of Creation Netherlands
Price Price available upon inquiry
Status Vetted

About the Work

This magnificent still life is by Post-Impressionist master Vincent van Gogh. EntitledStill Life with Two Sacks and a Bottle, this oil painting displays his unmatched talent for using everyday items to create compositions of singular beauty. With thick impasto, heavy shadowing, and an intense palette, this exceptional work of art displays all the hallmarks of van Gogh's technique.


By 1883, Vincent van Gogh had reluctantly returned to his family's home in Nuenen, where, despite strained relationships with his parents and a sense of isolation, he discovered a renewed sense of purpose and direction in his art. Nuenen's rural environment and its connection to Dutch artistic traditions provided him the freedom to explore new subjects and reconnect with his heritage. This transformative period he ultimately culminated in The Potato Eaters (1885), one of his most celebrated works, capturing the lives of rural laborers with an unfiltered realism that reflected his profound empathy.


During this period, Van Gogh studied still life, a foundational genre in classical art. As he taught art to local students to support himself, he found opportunities to reinterpret traditional still lifes, infusing them with his emerging personal style. In one letter to his brother Theo, he expressed excitement about teaching still life to villagers as his technique was improving, hinting at the innovative approach that would later redefine the genre with works like his iconic Sunflowers.


For some artists, still lifes served as mere technical exercises, but for Van Gogh, they reflected his profound artistic ambition, as seen in the present work. During his time in Nuenen--a period marked by hardship--Van Gogh laid the foundation for his distinctive vision, transforming the still life tradition into something expressive, bold and ultimately transformative for art history. He was deeply moved by the lives of the hardworking villagers, finding beauty in the connection between people, nature and domestic life. The sacks and bottle in this composition hint at the small comforts that sustained people through the challenges of provincial life.


Painted November, 1884


Canvas: 12" high x 16" wide

Frame: 19 5/8" high x 23 1/8" wide

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Provenance

C. Mouwen Jr., Breda
Kunstzaal Oldenzeel, Rotterdam
H. P. Bremmer (1871-1956) and his heirs, The Hague
H.P. Bremmer’s Estate
Galerie Klopfer, Zurich, 1983
Galerie Koller, Zurich, Catalogue, 25 May 1982, no. 5111
M.S. Rau, New Orleans
Private Collection, Pennsylvania
M.S. Rau, New Orleans

Literature

Carom M. Zemel, The Formation of a Legend: Van Gogh Criticism, 1890-1920, UMI Research Press, 1980, pp. 50-52, 169-170
Giovanni Testori and Luisa Arrigoni, Van Gogh: Catalogue Complet des Peintures, Paris, 1991, p. 44, no. 75, reproduced p. 45
Griselda Pollock, Vincent van Gogh in zijn Hollandse jaren, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, Vincent van Gogh, December 1980-March 22, 1981, pp. 137-138
H. P. Bremmer, Vincent van Gogh...mit zijn Hollandsche perlode, Amsterdam, 1907
H. P. Bremmer, Vincent van Gogh, Amsterdam, 1911
Ingo F. Walther and Rainer Metzger, Vincent Van Gogh: L'Oeuvre complete, peinture vol. I, Koln, 1990, p. 61 reprod.
Jacob Bart de La Faille, L'Oeuvre de Vincent Van Gogh: Catalogue Raisonne, Paris and Brussels, 1928 volume I, p. 26, no. 55, reproduced
Jacob Bart de La Faille, The Works of Vincent Van Gogh; His Paintings and Drawings, Amsterdam, 1970, p. 62, no. F55, reproduced
Jacob-Baart de La Faille, Vincent Van Gogh, Paris, Hyperion, 1939, p. 70, no. 59, reproduced
Jan Hulsker, The Complete Van Gogh: Paintings, Drawings, Sketches, 1980, pp. 124-125, reproduced
Jan Hulsker, The New Complete Van Gogh, Amsterdam, Philadelphia, 1996, no. 532, reproduced
Lecaldano, Paolo; Tout l'oeuvre peint de Van Gogh, 1881-1888, Paris, Flammarion, 1971, pp. 97 and 99, no. 75, reproduced
Museum of Modern Art, New York, Vincent Van Gogh...edited by Alfred H. Barr, Jr. and...a catalogue of the literature published from 1890 through 1940...by Charles Mattoon Brooks, Jr., New York, reprint 1966,

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