The Potato Eaters (Nuenen, 1885)
by Vincent van GOGH

In Nuenen van Gogh was able to paint and draw more from the figure; the rural labourers of Brabant were often unemployed and, because they needed money, they agreed to pose for the painter. The most important work of this period in Nuenen was a multi-figure composition of peasants at home eating their meal - The Potato Eaters. Van Gogh did a series of portraits of local peasants and countless studies for The Potato Eaters which exists in two versions.

Van Gogh considered The Potato Eaters his most successful painting, and it was the only one of his paintings that he considered worth showing in public and the only one he could imagine taking its place in the tradition of Millet.

Preview Picture Data File Info Comment
Head of a Peasant Woman with Greenish Lace Cap
February-March 1885, Nuenen
Oil on canvas, 38 x 29 cm
Rijksmuseum Kröller-Müller, Otterlo

750*1133
True Color
87 Kb



Head of a Peasant Woman with White Cap
March 1885, Nuenen
Oil on canvas, 43 x 34 cm
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

700*899
True Color
80 Kb



Head of a Peasant Woman with a White Cap
March 1885, Nuenen
Oil on canvas on panel, 41 x 32 cm
Private collection

646*850
True Color
74 Kb



Head of a Peasant Woman with White Cap
March 1885, Nuenen
Oil on card with canvas structure, 41 x 32 cm
Kunstmuseum, Bern

917*1200
True Color
190 Kb



Head of a Young Peasant with a Peaked Cap
March-May 1885, Nuenen
Oil on canvas, 39 x 31 cm
Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels

726*950
True Color
87 Kb



Head of a Peasant Woman with White Cap
April 1885, Nuenen
Oil on canvas, 44 x 36 cm
Rijksmuseum Kröller-Müller, Otterlo

728*900
True Color
88 Kb



The Potato Eaters
April 1885, Nuenen
Oil on canvas, 83 x 116 cm
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

1300*926
True Color
162 Kb



The Potato Eaters
April 1885, Nuenen
Oil on canvas on panel, 73 x 95 cm
Rijksmuseum Kröller-Müller, Otterlo

1708*1300
True Color
216 Kb



The Potato Eaters (detail)
April 1885, Nuenen
Oil on canvas on panel
Rijksmuseum Kröller-Müller, Otterlo

1303*1500
True Color
176 Kb



Four Peasants at a Meal
February-March 1885, Nuenen
Oil on canvas, 33 x 41 cm
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

1200*859
True Color
122 Kb



Peasant Sitting at a Table
March-April 1885, Nuenen
Oil on canvas, 44 x 33 cm
Private collection

600*861
True Color
52 Kb




Summary of works by Vincent van Gogh
Early paintings (1881-85)
Etten, The Hague | Nuenen | The Potato Eaters | Antwerp
Paris (1886-87)
Flower and other still-lifes | Various
Arles (1888-89)
Orchards in Blossom | Portraits
January-August 1888 | September 1888-April 1889
Asylum in Saint-Rémy (1889-90)
Environs | Cypresses and olive groves
Copies after other artists | Miscellaneous
Auvers-sur-Oise (1890)
Last paintings (May-July 1890)
Self-portraits (1886-89)
Self-portraits in chronological order
Graphics
Lithographs | Watercolours | Drawings | 1 | 2 | 3