Ernte in La Crau mit Montmajour im Hintergrund

Van Gogh painted this near Arles in June of 1888, and he did most of it in a single day, working through the fierce midday heat. He had come south looking for stronger sun and clearer color, and here he found the flat plain of La Crau spread out toward the medieval abbey of Montmajour, whose tower you can just make out on the low hills to the left. There is no drama in it, only a hot afternoon of ordinary harvest work, carts and fences and stacked sheaves receding into the distance. He built the depth without any of the haze other painters used, letting one field of color butt straight against the next. He thought it was the best thing he had made. Writing to his brother Theo, he said the canvas killed all the rest.