The artwork titled “Woman Feeding Chickens,” created by Vincent van Gogh in 1883 in The Hague, Netherlands, is a genre painting rooted in the Realism movement. Crafted with pencil and ink on paper, this distinctive piece is part of the collection at the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, Netherlands.
The artwork depicts a woman, viewed from behind, engaging in the everyday activity of feeding chickens. Her attire includes a headscarf, long-sleeved shirt, and a voluminous, multi-layered skirt, all rendered in meticulous detail through the use of pencil and ink. The scene is captured in a muted, monochromatic palette, emphasizing the simplicity and humility of rural life. The woman’s gesture, as she extends her arm to scatter feed, conveys a sense of diligence and care, characteristic of Van Gogh’s early works that focus on the labor and lives of ordinary people. The background is dark and loosely sketched, bringing the central figure into stark relief and emphasizing the pragmatic beauty of her routine task.
