Burning Weeds

Burning Weeds is an important early work created by Vincent van Gogh in 1883, demonstrating the artist’s commitment to mastering printmaking during his foundational period in the Netherlands. This piece is classified as a print, utilizing the exacting technique of transfer lithography further embellished with subsequent additions of pen and ink. Created during his time spent documenting peasant life, the work reflects Gogh’s deep engagement with the themes of arduous rural labor that dominated his output before he relocated to France. During this era, the artist concentrated intently on drawing, aiming to translate his sketches into reproducible media like these early prints for broader accessibility.

The subject depicts a lone farmhand supervising a pile of burning weeds, a common, necessary agricultural task. The resulting dense smoke column dominates the composition, providing a strong vertical element and a powerful sense of atmospheric drama within the monochromatic palette. This technical choice, combining the textural consistency of the lithograph with the immediate, expressive marks of the pen and ink, imbues the image with a raw, visceral quality characteristic of Gogh’s early Dutch style.

These early prints were critical stepping stones for Gogh, allowing him to explore narrative intensity and compositional complexity before his signature expressive painting style emerged. This specific impression of Burning Weeds is housed within the esteemed collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. As this significant work from 1883 is now in the public domain, it remains a key example illustrating the artist’s nascent experiments in printed media.