The artwork “Basket of Potatoes,” executed by Vincent van Gogh in 1885 in Nuenen, Netherlands, is a remarkable oil-on-canvas piece belonging to the Realism art movement. It is a still-life composition with dimensions of 44.5 x 60 cm and is presently housed at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
In this somber and contemplative still life, Van Gogh presents a basket brimming with potatoes, surrounded by additional potatoes scattered across a presumably earthen surface. The work is characterized by its earthy color palette, dominated by various shades of brown and deep shadows, which impart a sense of weight and texture to the depicted objects. The thick and textured application of paint, a hallmark of Van Gogh’s style, effectively conveys the rough, knobbly surfaces of the potatoes and the coarse weave of the basket. The seemingly minimalist scene nonetheless exudes a poignant realism that invites viewers to reflect on the humble subject matter, depicting an element of daily life with a profound reverence for its inherent simplicity and significance.
