Vincent Van Gogh Wheatfield with Crows, c.1890

The identity of Van Gogh's last canvas remains unknown, but this is generally assumed to be it. The reason for such wide concurrence has been determined more by the painting's ominous mood than as a result of any substantial evidence. Van Gogh himself described the image as representing "vast fields of wheat beneath troubled skies." He added "I did not need to go out of my way to try to express cheerlessness and extreme loneliness in it." In the the same letter, however, he wrote that I see in the countryside." Despite these conflicting messages, the former appears to hold sway. The painting undoubtedly contains elements of Van Gogh's extreme melancholy. A major source of his depression was the fact that he remained a financial burden to Theo, who now had a son to support. The vigorous, frustrated brushstrokes bear witness to his troubled mind. A short while after painting this scene, Van Gogh walked into these fields and shot himself in the chest. On July 29, 1890, he died in the brother's arms and was buried the following day in a cemetery nearby.