A Peasant Woman Digging in Front of Her Cottage

A Peasant Woman Digging in Front of Her Cottage by Vincent van Gogh: Driven by the loneliness and poverty he had experienced living in the Hague, Vincent van G…

What to notice

Follow the woman’s bent body and tool into the dark soil, then compare her labor with the heavy cottage and muted landscape surrounding her.

Discover

Driven by the loneliness and poverty he had experienced living in the Hague, Vincent van Gogh returned to his parents’ home in Nuenen, the Netherlands, in late 1883 and devoted himself entirely to painting. In Nuenen, the artist also returned to the more monochromatic palette of browns, greens, and grays that he had used in his early years in the Netherlands. He painted a series of cottages— including this painting—based on his walks through the village. He described this series to his brother: “I feel for the bro…