Sorrow

The influential graphic work Sorrow is a powerful lithograph created by Vincent van Gogh in 1882 during his early professional phase in The Hague. This print, executed using the demanding process of lithography, marks one of the most poignant early examples of the artist's engagement with human suffering and social realism. Unlike his later, brightly colored oil paintings, this piece relies entirely on line, shadow, and mass to convey intense, visceral emotion.

Reflecting the contemporary Dutch artistic interest in depicting the lives of the working class, Gogh focused heavily on figure studies during 1882, attempting to master human anatomy and emotional expression through graphic mediums. The stark imagery features a female nude, bent and forlorn, suggesting utter despair and vulnerability. Gogh meticulously rendered the figure with heavy outlines and detailed cross-hatching, demonstrating his commitment to mastering drawing fundamentals before transitioning fully to color and impasto techniques. The raw emotional impact of the subject matter links this powerful print to the prevailing sense of anxiety and social inequality common during the late 19th-century.

This significant work established Gogh’s ability to translate complex emotional states into graphic form. Though relatively obscure compared to his Parisian and Arlesian canvases, early works like this are foundational to understanding the trajectory of his career and his lifelong empathy for the marginalized. As a major component of his graphic output, the powerful study Sorrow holds an important place in collections dedicated to late 19th-century European prints. This seminal graphic work, dating specifically from 1882, is currently housed in the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) collection, ensuring its availability for scholarship. Because of its historical significance, reproductions of this lithograph are frequently available through public domain archives and art reference sites.