April 1885

Vincent sends Theo a lithograph of his latest sketch, later worked up in oils as The Potato Eaters, which he hopes will provide him with an entree into the Paris art market. Though he studies coloration, particularly the use of complementary colors, he continues to base his palette on that of the Old Dutch Masters he so admires.

He paints landscapes in oil on canvas and makes pen sketches of potato planters. His preliminary sketch of The Potato Eaters is created in pen and lithographic chalk.

– Alisia Robin Coon, Van Gogh Timeline, in Becoming van Gogh, Denver Art Museum, 2012, 250