Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom Ag in Art The Potato Eaters, Vincent Van Gogh, 1885 Vincent van Gogh was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter whose work had a far-reaching influence on 20th Century art for its vivid colors and emotional impact.. Little appreciated in his lifetime, his fame grew in the hears after his death. He produced more than 2,000 works of art. An early vocational aspiration was to become a pastor and preach the gospel. From 1879 he worked as a missionary in a mining region in Belgium. During this time he began to sketch people from the local community. He painted the Potato Eaters during this time. It was his first major work.During this period in his career, van Gogh painted with sombre earth tones that showed no sign of the vivid coloration that distinguished his later work. Van Gogh considered "The Potato Eaters" his most successful painting. He said he wanted to depict peasants as they really were. He wrote to his brother in a letter that he had deliberately chosen coarse and ugly models, thinking they would make the finished work more natural and unspoiled: "I wanted to convey the idea that the people eating potatoes 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 had toiled with their hands—that they have earned their food by honest means." Discussion Questions Describe what is happening in this painting. What is the mood? What is the center of interest? Van Gogh told his brother he wanted to emphasize the hands of the people in this painting—that the same hands they use for eating are used to work the land. Describe the hands of the people in the painting. What makes them look like hands that are used for work? Discuss how potatoes grow (underground) and what would be required for harvesting them. Draw a picture showing what your hands might look like after digging potatoes. Describe the use of shadow and light. Where is the light coming from? Describe the colors van Gogh uses in this painting. What is the dominant color? What are the contrasting colors? Compare the colors in this painting with those of painting "Sheaves of Wheat in a Field" and "Shepherd With a Flock of Sheep." Find the horizontal lines. Find the vertical lines. What shapes can you find? Discuss the use of space. Is is crowded or spacious? Describe the background. What details do you notice? What do the objects in the painting tell you about the people? Describe the people in the painting. What was the artist's attitude toward the people in the painting? What do you know about the lives of the people in this painting based on what you can see? How are their lives different from your own? Draw or paint a picture of your family at the dinner table or of your fellow students eating lunch in the cafeteria. Write a story based on what you see in this painting. P.A.S.S. Grade 1—Visual Art: 1.1,2,3,4; 2.1,3; 3.1,2 Grade 2—Visual Art: 1.1,2,3,4; 2.1,3; 3.1,2 Grade 3—Visual Art: 1.1,2,3,4; 2.1,3; 3.1,2,3 Grade 4—Visual Art: 1.2,3; 2.1,2; 3.1,2 Grade 5—Visual Art: 1.1,2,4; 2.1,2; 3.1,2 Grade 6—Visual Art: 1.1,2,3,4; 2.1,2 Grade 7—Visual Art: 1.1,2,3,4; 2.1,2; 3.1 Grade 8—Visual Art: 1.1,2,3,4; 2.1; 3.1 Back to Ag in Art Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom is a program of the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, 4-H Youth Development, the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the Oklahoma State Department of Education.