The Red Vineyard

The Red Vineyard (1888) by Vincent van Gogh. Its palette is led by rich amber ochre (#8e7026, 17%) and amber (#b07f25, 13%), with accents of dark muted lime green, muted azure teal, rich sienna and soot. Overall the canvas is mid-toned, vivid and warm.

Color note

Van Gogh built his color on complementary contrasts, blue against orange and red against green, learned from Delacroix and Japanese prints. Some of his reds were fugitive and have faded, so parts of his paintings are cooler today than he made them.

Palette

#8e7026 MG 188 rich amber ochre 17.0% of canvas
#2e4939 MG 059 dark muted lime green 15.2% of canvas
#b07f25 MG 034 amber 12.8% of canvas
#40796d MG 082 muted azure teal 12.7% of canvas
#b56821 MG 026 scarlet orange 12.4% of canvas
#893421 MG 147 rich sienna 12.3% of canvas
#c6b64e MG 043 light lime yellow 12.1% of canvas
#131512 MG 223 soot 5.5% of canvas

Color families

Brown 37%, Yellow 22%, Green 12%, Red 8%, Orange 8%

Measurements

Lightness: 0.53
Contrast: 0.49
Vividness: 0.084
Warmth: +0.83
Complexity: 229 cells
Hue range: 0.62
Focus: 0.02

Composition

55% of the visual weight is in the right half, 58% in the upper half. Symmetry 0.45 (how closely its shapes and edges mirror each other). 4% of the canvas is calm space. Half of the detail sits in 39% of the canvas. Measured from the image, not a rule the painter followed.

Details

Date: 1888
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 75.0 × 93.0 cm
Genre: landscape painting
Collection: Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow

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