Van Gogh's spirituality and intense identification with the forces of nature transformed his views of the landscape into powerful personal expressions.

This canvas was painted in the Provençal town of Saint-Rémy, as van Gogh recuperated from a nervous breakdown suffered on Christmas Eve, 1888, during Gauguin's fateful visit. It is one of four views of a walled wheat field executed in the autumn of 1889. Symbols of the artist's pantheistic beliefs, the ploughed terrain and rugged mountain peaks pulsate with a fertile inner life, charged by the picture's dynamic brushwork, rich surface texture, and varied colors.

By inheritance to the artist's brother Theo van Gogh [d. 1891]; to his wife, Johanna van Gogh-Bonger;{1} sold to (Paul Cassirer, Berlin) in May 1905;{2} sold to Robert von Mendelssohn [1857-1917], Berlin;{3} by inheritance to his widow Giulietta von Mendelssohn, Berlin-Grunewald; to her children Eleonora [1900-1951] and Francesco [1901-1972], Berlin, New York;{4} on consignment to (J.K. Thannhauser, New York).{5} probably directly to (Arnold Seligmann, Rey & Co., New York);{6} sold by them to Mrs. James W. Fesler (Caroline Marmon Fesler), who gave it to the Indianapolis Museum of Art (formerly John Herron Art Institute) in the same month. (44.74){7}

{1} After the death of Theo, Johanna van Gogh-Bonger's brother Andries Bonger, made an inventory list of 311 works in his sister's possession. Landscape at Saint-Rémy is identified as no. 309 on this list; see documentation provided by Walter Feilchenfeldt, Vincent van Gogh & Paul Cassirer, Berlin: The Reception of van Gogh in Germany from 1901 to 1914 (Cahier Vincent 2), Zwolle 1988: p. 109.
{2} Johanna van Gogh-Bonger's list of works destined for Cassirer in Berlin; see facsimile in Feilchenfeldt, p. 80. Paul Cassirer's stockbook records the purchase of this canvas along with eight others in May 1905; see facsimile in Feilchenfeldt, p. 18.
{3} Paul Cassirer's stockbook records the sale of this canvas to Mendelssohn in May 1905; photocopy courtesy of Walter Feilchenfeldt, Zürich, October 2003.
{4} Eleonora emigrated to the United States in 1935 and became a citizen; Francesco emigrated in 1933; information provided in correspondence with Hans-Günter Klein, Mendelssohn-Archiv, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, May 2003.
{5} Janet Briner of the Silva-Casa Foundation in Geneva, in a letter of 20 May 2004, confirms that this painting is listed as # 2054 in the Works of art on consignment index cards in the Archives Justin K. Thannhauser (owner: Francesco and Eleonora von Mendelssohn; their agent: Fredrick Kempner).
{6} Many dealers in New York knew of this painting and the von Mendelssohns' interest in selling it. Kempner's correspondence with the von Mendelssohns between June 1942 and June 1943 confirms that the painting was on consignment to Thannhauser, see Eleonora Mendelssohn Papers, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library, Box 8, folder 8. Despite the fact that Paul Rosenberg & Co. has been listed on occasion as a gallery through which this painting passed, a phone conversation with Elaine Rosenberg in October 2003 indicates that this was not the case.
{7} Bill of sale in IMA Historical File (44.74).