--- title: The Potato Eaters by van Gogh author: Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam source: https://www.worldhistory.org/image/15462/the-potato-eaters-by-van-gogh/ format: machine-readable-alternate updated: 1970-01-01 --- # The Potato Eaters by van Gogh _Authored by Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam_ ## Image File [![The Potato Eaters by van Gogh](https://www.worldhistory.org/uploads/images/15462.png)](https://www.worldhistory.org/uploads/images/15462.png) ## Image Caption An 1885 oil on canvas painting, *The Potato Eaters*, by [Vincent van Gogh](https://www.worldhistory.org/Vincent_van_Gogh/) (1853-90), the Dutch post-impressionist artist. Painted in Neunen, Netherlands. Van Gogh created this work by combining various earlier studies of individuals, hence their rather isolated nature. The artist has given the figures contoured faces and hands – picked out by the light from the single lamp – which remind of the bowl of potatoes they are eating from. The work was not well-received by dealers or fellow artists, but van Gogh thought highly of it, even producing a reworking of it in the last year of his life. He described his purpose in the painting in a letter to his brother Theo: > I have tried to emphasize that those people, eating their potatoes in the lamplight, have dug the earth with those very hands they put in the dish, and so it speaks of manual labour, and how they have honestly earned their food. (LT 370) (Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam) ## Cite This Work ### APA Amsterdam, V. G. M. (2022, March 16). The Potato Eaters by van Gogh. *World History Encyclopedia*. ### Chicago Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum,. "The Potato Eaters by van Gogh." *World History Encyclopedia*, March 16, 2022. . ### MLA Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum,. "The Potato Eaters by van Gogh." *World History Encyclopedia*, 16 Mar 2022, . ## License & Copyright [Original image](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Van-willem-vincent-gogh-die-kartoffelesser-03850.jpg) by [**Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam**](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Van-willem-vincent-gogh-die-kartoffelesser-03850.jpg). Submitted by [Mark Cartwright](https://www.worldhistory.org/user/markzcartwright/ "User Page: Mark Cartwright"), published on 16 March 2022. The copyright holder has published this content under the following license: [Public Domain](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_domain). This item is in the public domain, and can be used, copied, and modified without any restrictions. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms.