Van Gogh Sheep Shearer after Millet Tie

Sheep Shearer (after Millet) by Vincent Van Gogh, oil on canvas 1889, is a painting of a farmer and his wife shearing the wool from one of their sheep against a background of thatched cottages and barns, which Van Gogh copied from an earlier painting by the French Barbizon realist artist Jean-Francois Millet. Van Gogh translates the classical, earthy realism and sculptural modelling of Millet’s painting into the bold contours and flattened, contrasting colours of his mature, Post-Impressionist style. Van Gogh produced many copies of works by his favourite painters in the final years of his life, like a composer playing variations of the works which influenced him.