Wheatfield with Crows

Wheatfield with Crows (1890) by Vincent van Gogh. Its palette is led by pale golden yellow (#c3b12e, 27%) and light yellow (#a69f3a, 20%), with accents of dark blue, indigo blue, rich scarlet brown and rich olive. Overall the canvas is light, vivid and balanced between warm and cool.

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

#c3b12e MG 041 pale golden yellow 27.2% of canvas
#a69f3a MG 044 light yellow 19.7% of canvas
#6f96ce MG 102 light blue 12.2% of canvas
#193c7f MG 107 dark blue 12.2% of canvas
#3d65b0 MG 111 indigo blue 10.7% of canvas
#9b5d2b MG 161 rich scarlet brown 8.7% of canvas
#a9c6d3 MG 207 pale slate 5.3% of canvas
#6c6a3e MG 197 rich olive 4.1% of canvas

Color families

Yellow 43%, Blue 37%, Brown 11%, Orange 4%, Gray 3%

Measurements

Lightness: 0.64
Contrast: 0.45
Vividness: 0.105
Warmth: +0.26
Complexity: 190 cells
Hue range: 0.50
Focus: 0.02

Composition

52% of the visual weight is in the left half, 55% in the upper half. Symmetry 0.59 (how closely its shapes and edges mirror each other). 2% of the canvas is calm space. Half of the detail sits in 37% of the canvas. Measured from the image, not a rule the painter followed.

Details

Date: 1890
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 50.2 × 103.0 cm
Genre: landscape painting
Collection: Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

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