By Isaac Hans
Every fall, as the leaves change and the world begins to glow in red and gold, I think of one of my favorite works by Vincent Van Gogh: “The Red Vineyard.”
It’s not his most famous painting. I don’t mean to say I’ve discovered some hidden gem—plenty of people have loved this piece before me. But when most folks hear Van Gogh’s name, they think of “Starry Night.” Or maybe the sunflowers. Maybe the self-portraits. What they remember, for sure, is the thick, swirling paint and those almost impossibly vibrant colors. These same colors mark “The Red Vineyard” unmistakably as his. It reverberates with that same colorful and emotional intensity.
“The Red Vineyard,” 1888 by Vincent Van Gogh
Credit: vincentvangogh.org
Van Gogh painted it while living in Arles, France, during one of his most prolific seasons. It was also the time when he befriended Paul Gauguin—though that friendship quickly unraveled. That unraveling would push Van Gogh’s already fragile mental health to the brink and lead to the now-infamous moment when he cut off a piece of his own ear.
But as Russ Ramsey writes in Van Gogh Has a Broken Heart, we can’t let a person’s lowest moment become the whole story. Van Gogh’s suffering was real, but it didn’t define him. Not fully. He also spent long stretches of time marveling at the world around him, drinking in the beauty around him.
In a letter to his brother, Theo, he describes the moment that inspired “The Red Vineyard.”
“But if only you had been with us on Sunday, when we saw a red vineyard, all red like red wine. In the distance it turned to yellow, and then a green sky with the sun, the earth after the rain violet, sparkling yellow here and there where it caught the reflection of the setting sun.”
It’s not hard to see the correlation between Van Gogh’s writing here and the painting that came from it. The description of the scene is just as vibrant as the colors he uses. Van Gogh intentionally used color in his work to evoke emotion and convey the feeling of a place more than to represent what he only saw with his eyes. In another letter to Theo, he says, “Colour expresses something in itself. One can’t do without it; one must make use of it. What looks beautiful, really beautiful—is also right.”
Van Gogh used color not to only describe, but to evoke. The reds in “The Red Vineyard” aren’t just visually striking—they tell the story of the harvest. They carry the weight of labor, celebration, exhaustion, and glory.
The colors in “The Red Vineyard” bring home the themes of harvest. The painting celebrates what might otherwise seem like a simple day of work. But in a time of harvest, the mundane becomes sacred. Harvest is the culmination of nearly a year’s worth of anonymous, everyday labor.
In that way, “The Red Vineyard” mirrors Van Gogh’s own life. It’s the only painting we know for sure that he sold while he was alive. He poured himself into his work for years, without fame, without fortune, without much affirmation at all. And yet he kept going. He understood something we tend to forget: the value of creating isn’t measured in attention or success. The act itself—the faithfulness of showing up and making something—that’s the gift.
As sub-creators, we are called and compelled to make, even when it's hard. In another letter to Theo, Van Gogh writes, “Now I content myself with believing that in working assiduously even so, without thinking of [money] one perhaps makes some progress.”
I think about that a lot. Especially in seasons that feel quiet, thankless, or creatively dry.
“The Red Vineyard” reminds me to lift up the mundane—to see it as sacred. To remember that work, done in love, is never wasted. Van Gogh, even in his suffering, chose to remember the beauty. And we’re meant to do the same.
Vincent van GOGH
Vincent van Gogh, born in 1853, was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter. His style is known for its bright color and thick brushstrokes, which influenced much of the work made in the 20th century. Virtually unknown throughout his life, he struggled with mental health and died by his own hand of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the age of 37.
Read more about Vincent Van Gogh’s Life
Interested in more work like this? Check out:
Van Gogh Has a Broken Heart, a great book on Christianity and Art, which a feature on Van Gogh’s life and influence.
The work of Paul Gaugin. His tumultuous relationship with Van Gogh influenced both of the artist’s paintings, and reading both can give us more insight to the other.
Donald Yatomi paintings showing the mundane in the contemporary world.
Isaac Hans is a visual artist and photographer based out of Colorado Springs. Influenced by the history of American road trip photography, his work focuses around ideas of longing, spirituality, and the mundane.
