Heuhaufen in der Provence

In June 1888 Van Gogh went out into the fields around Arles to paint the first harvest of his first southern summer. He worked at a furious pace, out under the full sun, and told his brother he was as happy as a cricket. In a couple of weeks he made something like ten paintings and several drawings of wheat, sheaves and stacks, until sudden heavy rains around the 20th put a stop to both the harvest and the work. This is one of them, two enormous hayricks on a Provençal farm, built up so high they dwarf the little buildings beside them. The run ended almost as fast as it began. By the end of the month the fields were cut and the weather had broken.