The Reaper (El Segador)
Oil painting on canvas (displayed digitally on television) • Vincent van Gogh
Style & Movement
Post-Impressionism
Medium & Technique
Oil on canvas, employing expressive brushwork and impasto texture typical of late 19th-century Post-Impressionism.
Creation Period
1889
Dimensions & Format
Horizontal landscape format, original dimensions approximately 59.5 cm × 73 cm
Subject Description
A lone agricultural worker harvesting a vibrant, golden wheat field with a sickle under a bright blue-green sky, capturing the intense heat and labor of the harvest.
Condition & Value Assessment
Condition Assessment
The original physical artwork (housed in the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam) is in Good condition, showing standard age-related craquelure and conservation history.
Estimated Market Value
Museum-held masterpiece; estimated value exceeds $100,000,000 USD if it were ever to appear on the private market.
Auction Estimate
Incomparable/Not applicable as it is institutional property, but comparable Van Gogh works achieve $50,000,000 to $150,000,000+ at auction.
Provenance History
Passed down through the artist's family (Collection of Jo van Gogh-Bonger), later acquired by the Stedelijk Museum, and currently part of the permanent collection at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.
Art Historical Significance
Painted during Van Gogh's stay at the asylum in Saint-Rémy, this work symbolizes eternity and death, with the reaper representing the inevitable cycle of nature and human labor.
Notable Features
Dynamic, swirling brushstrokes that unify the figure of the reaper with the surrounding landscape, expressing intense psychological and emotional energy.
Condition Issues
Not applicable to the physical original for this assessment, though typical stabilization and varnishing maintenance apply to museum conservation standards.
Conservation Recommendations
Strict museum-controlled climate (temperature and humidity stability), UV-filtered lighting, and minimal handling as maintained by the Van Gogh Museum.