The artwork, titled “Reaper,” was created by Vincent van Gogh in 1885 while he was in Nuenen, Netherlands. Crafted with chalk on paper, this piece falls under the Realism art movement and is categorized as a sketch and study. It is presently housed in the Van Gogh Museum located in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
In the artwork, Van Gogh meticulously renders a figure of a reaper engaged in harvesting. The reaper, clad in rustic attire with a brimmed hat, is depicted in profile, deeply focused on his task. His posture is slightly hunched, highlighting the laborious nature of his work, with one hand positioned forward grasping a sickle and the other hand extending backward, possibly balancing another tool or sheath of grain. The background, sketched with energetic lines, suggests a field of tall crops, giving depth and context to the scene. The artist employs bold, dynamic strokes to portray the movement and effort involved in reaping, encapsulating the essence of rural toil. The use of chalk and the raw texture of the paper adds an earthy, tactile quality to the sketch, enhancing its realism and connection to the agrarian theme.
