The artwork titled “Peasant with Sickle, Seen from the Back” by Vincent van Gogh, created in 1885 in Nuenen, Netherlands, is a pencil and chalk sketch on paper. It belongs to the Realism movement and serves as a sketch and study. This piece is currently housed in the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, Netherlands.
The artwork features the back view of a peasant laboring in the field, grasping a sickle. The depicted peasant is bending slightly forward, suggesting he is engaged in the act of harvesting, a recurring theme in Van Gogh’s portrayal of rural laborers. The rugged texture of his clothes and the weathered hat highlight the physicality and austerity of daily labor. The background is composed of loosely drawn lines, which suggest the presence of crops and the rustic setting. The use of chalk on paper brings forth a raw, almost tactile quality to the sketch, resonating with the Realism movement’s intention to depict the unidealized aspects of everyday life.
