J. H. de Bois

1878 - 1946

Explore Selected Works

Drawn with brown ink on tan paper, fields stretch away from us toward three farm buildings and a man walking behind a plough pulled by a horse in this horizontal landscape. The grass and plants in the field closest to us are suggested by tightly packed clusters of parallel, short, vertical strokes and curlicues. Just beyond it is a gap, suggesting a road, and another field made up of rows of short strokes angled slight to the left or right that recede toward the man and buildings. Two twisted trees, each with a gnarled trunk and spiky branches, stands to our left and right where the more distant fields meet the road, near the sides of the paper. The trees reach high into the blank sky above them. Farther back and to our left, the man and horse are drawn with only a few strokes each, shown facing our right in profile. Beyond them, vertical lines of varying heights, with some intersected by horizontal lines, separate the field from the farmhouses. We see the top level of the three loosely drawn buildings along the horizon line, which comes just under halfway up the composition. The largest is a long rectangular structure just right of center with a few windows scattered across its facade. To the left, beyond the horse and ploughman, is a smaller square structure with a peaked roof. On the far left, the third building has two dots suggesting windows. More thin, vertical strokes appear beyond the buildings, and a low bank of puffy clouds hovers just above the horizon on the right side. Some outlines in graphite are visible under or near the ink lines.
Vincent van Gogh, Ploughman in the Fields near Arles, 1888, reed pen and brown ink over graphite on wove paper, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, 1992.51.6

Ploughman in the Fields near Arles

Vincent van Gogh · 1888 · reed pen and brown ink over graphite on wove paper ·  Accession ID  1992.51.6

Shown from about the knees up, a young woman sits in a chair angled to our right but she turns her face to look at us in this loosely painted, vertical portrait. Her chair has a rounded back and arms made from what looks like bent, woody vines, and the background is a solid field of pale aqua. Her dark hair is parted in the middle and tied at the nape of her neck with a red ribbon. Dark eyebrows curve over brown eyes, and she has a rounded nose, and her petal-pink lips are slightly parted. Her pale peach skin is tinged with green on her face and hands. Her right arm, on our left, rests along the arm of the chair. In her other hand, which rests in her lap, she holds a sprig of blooming oleander, with light pink flowers and green leaves. The bodice of her high-necked dress is striped with brick red and royal blue, and is lined with a row of round gold buttons down the front. The sleeves come down to her forearms and the cuffs and collar at her neck are white. Her full skirt is royal blue with pumpkin-orange dots. The brushwork is loose throughout and individual brushstrokes are visible, especially in the stripes of her bodice and the patchy peach tones that make up her skin.
Vincent van Gogh, La Mousmé, 1888, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.151

La Mousmé

Vincent van Gogh · 1888 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1963.10.151

Shown from the knees up, a pale-skinned woman wearing a floppy, canary-yellow hat and a long white dress stands in a field of spring green in this vertical painting. Brushstrokes and loose dabs of paint are visible throughout. The woman’s body is angled to our left, and she looks off in that direction with bright green eyes. Her nose, eyebrows, and narrow chin are outlined with medium brown, and her pink lips are closed. Her black hair is pulled back under the hat, the wide brim of which droops down either side of her face. A sky-blue ribbon or decoration is on the front of the crown. Her dress has a high collar, a fitted bodice, long sleeves, and a long skirt. Pale pink daubs on the white dress are thickly applied so the texture of the paint can be seen on the surface of the canvas. The background is painted with long and short curved dashes of celery green layered over laurel and cool green. Several tangerine-orange dots, a few shell-pink dabs, and some angular, heart-shaped forms in cobalt blue to each side of the woman suggest flowers.
Vincent van Gogh, Girl in White, 1890, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.30

Girl in White

Vincent van Gogh · 1890 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1963.10.30