Speakasso › Paintings › Wheatfield with Crows
Wheatfield with Crows
Vincent van Gogh, 1890
Beneath a low stormy sky the golden wheat heaves, three paths run off in different directions and break off, and a flock of crows crosses the field in black strokes. The long, narrow canvas was painted at Auvers-sur-Oise in July 1890, a few weeks before the artist's death. Van Gogh wrote to his brother of 'vast fields of wheat under troubled skies' in which he wanted to express 'sadness and extreme loneliness', but also the health of the countryside. Legend made it his last painting; in fact others followed.
What is in the painting
- Three paths. Green tracks run off to the left, to the right and into the distance.
- Black birds. The flock is drawn as simple black ticks.
- Heavy sky. Deep blue strokes with two murky discs of light.
Did you know? The canvas is a 'double square', 50 by 100 cm, a format Van Gogh adopted only in the final weeks of his life.
About the painting
- Artist
- Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890)
- Year
- 1890
- Style
- Post-Impressionism
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Size
- 50.5 × 103 cm
- Where to see it
- Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
How to describe it in Speakasso
In Speakasso you describe the painting in your own words and an AI draws it again. These words are forbidden in this round — each one costs 15 points:
A description that scores high
A long, wide landscape. A field of ripe golden grain heaves across the bottom half, split by three grassy green tracks: one runs left, one right, one straight into the distance. Above it churns a heavy dark blue storm with two murky pale discs of light. A flock of black birds flies across, drawn as simple black V-shaped ticks. Thick, restless, slashing brushstrokes of oil paint.
The tricky part: Call the paths three green tracks through ripe grain, and the upper half a churning dark blue storm with black V-shaped birds.
The method behind it: what is painted first, then where things are, then colour and light, then the style. Read the full guide
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