Art Appreciation

03 Art and Philosophy

1. Formalism (What are the forms that can be found in the painting above? Briefly describe each)

The painting shows the forms and elements that can be found on a wheat farm in the broad daylight. It
demonstrates the vibrant color of the field with a series of wheat harvesting under the clear blue sky.
We can see a green field that is yet to be farmed in the middle, a field that is currently being cut on the
side, a yellowish-green field that has grown wheat, a golden field in the front that is yet to be harvested
field. There are also farmhouses with identical roof colors, carts, wooden fences and ladders, small
green trees, a few farmers, and the blue-green Mountmajour in the background.

2. Expressionism (How do you think the artist was feeling when he created the artwork?)

Vincent Van Gogh is a well-known artist for his paintings of expressionism. He used art to express the
subjective feelings of wheat farmers to be felt by anyone although they are foreign to that reality. His
“Harvest at La Crau” shows the lives of farmers in the wheat fields of south France. Using the
combination of the colors yellow and green, different emotions can be felt as it exaggerates the
turmoil’s of the events while working in the hot summer fields of wheat. Van gogh wanted to express
the unchanging hardships and experiences of these poor people from the process of harvesting their
crops under the excruciatingly hot sun.