Art scholars say that van Gogh painted olive groves to represent Christ and sunflowers as symbols of the pious soul who, like the flower, follows God’s blinding light. His sheaves of wheat crumbling into the earth to regenerate life represent the timeless cycle of death and rebirth. In one 1888 letter to his close artist friend, Emile Bernard, van Gogh confessed “a longing for the Infinite, of which the sower and the sheaf are the symbols still enchanting me.”

Van Gogh had an affinity with farmers. We find people working in the fields throughout his work. In one famous piece entitled “The Sower”, we find the sun making a halo effect around the man sowing the seed. This may suggest van Gogh saw the farmer as a saint. In today's world, we look for the saints among us. Who are the everyday saints in your life? And how do you recognize them?

Join us for an engaging conversation on The Lume with IMA Docent Joanne Jones on March 23 at 6:30 p.m. at 2720 East 86th Street, Indianapolis.