Mrs. Johanna Gesina van Gogh-Bonger, Amsterdam (sister-in-law of the artist)
Vincent Willem van Gogh, Laren (by descent from the above)
Private Collection (acquired from the above and sold: Christie's, London, June 25, 1991, lot 205)
Private Collection

Jacob Baart de la Faille, L'Oeuvre de Vincent van Gogh: Catalogue raisonné, vol. III, Paris & Brussels, 1928, no. 1560, illustrated vol. IV, part II, pl. CLXXXV, fig. 1560
Jacob Baart de la Faille, The Works of Vincent van Gogh: His Paintings and Drawings, Amsterdam, 1970, no. 1560, illustrated p. 538
Jan Hulsker, The Complete Van Gogh: Paintings, Drawings, Sketches, New York, 1980, no. 1718, illustrated p. 395 
Han van Crimpen & Monique Berends-Albert, De Brieven van Vincent van Gogh, The Hague, 1990, no. 778
Jacob Baart de la Faille, Vincent Van Gogh: The Complete Works on Paper, Catalogue Raisonné, vol. II, San Francisco, 1992, no. 1560, illustrated pl. CLXXXV
Jan Hulsker, The New Complete Van Gogh: Paintings, Drawings, Sketches, Amsterdam & Philadelphia, 1996, no. 1718, illustrated p. 395
Marije Vellekoop & Roelie Zwikker, Vincent Van Gogh: Drawings, Arles, Saint-Rémy & Auvers-sur-Oise, 1888-1890, Van Gogh Museum, vol. IV, Amsterdam, 2007, fig. 447d, illustrated p. 400

Executed on buff-colored wove paper laid down on cream-colored laid paper. Hinged to a window mat at the upper corners on the verso (of the backing sheet). The sheet may be somewhat time-darkened overall, and its left edge appears to be somewhat unevenly cut. There are scattered visible fibers throughout the sheet; this is inherent to the paper. There are a number of small repairs at the upper left corner, upper right corner, at the center of the bottom edge and at the center of the composition's sky. These repairs are visible only when light is shown through the work; the tears are not visible to the naked eye and appear to have been expertly treated. Overall the work is in good condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

In May 1889, about a year before the artist's suicide, Van Gogh entered the asylum at Saint-Rémy. While in the care of Saint-Paul-de-Mausole, the tortured Van Gogh, ever prone to violent spikes in his sustained mental illness, took up yard work in the enclosed gardens and fields behind the hospital. All the while he drew and painted, and for the duration of his committed year at Saint-Paul he took the views of nature within and beyond the confines of his institution as his subject. The catalogue of the collection of the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, includes the present work in a larger body of works on paper executed while Van Gogh was at the asylum: "Van Gogh depicted the field in fourteen paintings and thirteen drawings, both from the vantage point of his bedroom window and from a position in the field...The drawings all depict a view of the walled field, each from a slightly different vantage point" (Marije Vellekoop & Roelie Zwikker, op. cit., p. 392). 

Van Gogh described the walled field in a May 1889 letter to his brother Théo: "Through the iron-barred window I see a square field of wheat in an enclosure, a perspective like Van Goyen, above which I see the morning sun rising in all its glory" (New York Graphic Society, eds., The Complete Letters of Vincent Van Gogh, Greenwich, vol. III, 1958, no. 592, p. 173).

In the present work and in others from the series, Van Gogh's deep emotional ties to nature are apparent: "The yearly cycle of the wheat - sowing, growth, reaping - reminded Van Gogh of the never-ending cycle of life: 'Their history [i.e. that of plants] is ours, for we who live on bread, are we not ourselves wheat to a considerable extent, at least ought we not to submit to growing, powerless to move, like a plant, relative to what our imagination sometimes desires, and to be reaped when we are ripe, as it is.' This idea made the wheatfield a comforting motif for Van Gogh: 'What else can one do, thinking about all those things one doesn't understand the reason for, but look at the wheatfields?'" (Marije Vellekoop & Roelie Zwikker, op. cit., p. 392, with quotations from Van Gogh's letters).

Fig. 1  The walled field as seen from Van Gogh's bedroom at Saint-Paul circa 1950. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam.