The artwork titled “Four Peasants at a Meal (Study for ‘The Potato Eaters’)” was created by Vincent van Gogh in 1885 in Nuenen, Netherlands. This piece is an oil painting on canvas and falls under the Realism art movement. It is a genre painting depicting a scene from everyday life and is currently housed at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
The artwork portrays four figures, presumably peasants, gathered around a meal under the dim light of a hanging lamp. The dark and somber tones dominate the composition, creating a subdued and intimate atmosphere. The figures are partially illuminated by the lamp, which casts shadows, adding depth and intensity to their expressions and gestures. The brushwork is vigorous, with bold, unrefined strokes contributing to the rawness and authenticity of the scene. This painting serves as a preliminary study for Van Gogh’s later and more famous work, “The Potato Eaters,” capturing the essence of rural life and the laboring class’s simple and modest existence.
