The National Gallery in London is opening a major new exhibition tomorrow titled "Radical Harmony: Helene Kröller-Müller's Neo-Impressionists," running until February 8, 2026. The show features works by many of Van Gogh's Parisian colleagues, most notably Georges Seurat and Paul Signac, and includes Van Gogh's vibrant painting "The Sower" from June 1888, which demonstrates his brief but significant experimentation with the Neo-Impressionist dot-like technique.
"The Sower" has gained unexpected recognition beyond the art world, receiving what could be considered a papal blessing earlier this year. During his first general audience at the Vatican in May, Pope Leo XIV referenced Van Gogh's painting while discussing Christ's Parable of the Sower. The Pope observed that "at the center of the scene, however, is not the sower, who stands to the side; instead, the whole painting is dominated by the image of the sun, perhaps to remind us that it is God who moves history, even if he sometimes seems absent or distant." He added that "it is the sun that warms the clods of earth and makes the seed ripen," a spiritual interpretation that would have resonated deeply with Van Gogh.
This religious connection is particularly meaningful given Van Gogh's background as the son of a Dutch Protestant clergyman. In his early twenties, Van Gogh was a deeply committed Christian, though he later became non-denominational. While living in west London in 1876, he once wrote about seeing "a very beautiful little Roman Catholic church," likely St. John's in Brentford. However, a few years later, he completely abandoned organized religion, making the Pope's interpretation all the more poignant.
Within the context of the National Gallery's exhibition, "The Sower" tells a different but equally compelling story about artistic technique and innovation. Van Gogh discovered Neo-Impressionism after arriving in Paris in 1886, when he stayed with his brother Theo. There he met the movement's leading figures, Seurat and Signac, and became fascinated by their revolutionary approach to color and brushwork. For a brief period in early 1887, Van Gogh experimented intensively with their pointillist dot technique, where small marks of pure color were intended to blend in the viewer's eye when seen from a distance, creating a more vibrant visual impact.
Although Van Gogh soon abandoned pure Neo-Impressionism, finding its methodical approach too rigid for his expressive temperament, he continued to incorporate elements of the technique throughout his career. "The Sower" exemplifies this selective adoption, painted in Arles in June 1888, four months after he had left Paris behind. The composition was partly inspired by a beloved work he admired by mid-19th century French artist Jean-François Millet, but Van Gogh transformed it into something uniquely his own by setting the figure in a Provençal wheat field beneath a powerful setting sun.
The painting's composition reveals Van Gogh's imaginative approach to storytelling through art. In the background, golden wheat stands ready for harvest, while in the foreground, the sower plants new seeds. Since sowing and harvesting don't occur simultaneously in agricultural reality, these two scenes came together only in Van Gogh's vivid imagination, creating layers of meaning that refer to the cycles of nature and life itself.
Van Gogh was acutely aware of the painting's ambitious scope and his own technical challenges in executing it. Writing to his brother Theo as he began the work, he noted, "You can sense from the mere nomenclature of the tonalities that color plays a very important role in this composition." Feeling intimidated by the project's demands, he confided, "I just wonder whether I'll have the necessary power of execution to complete it," adding, "For such a long time it's been my great desire to do a sower, but the desires I've had for a long time aren't always achieved."
In correspondence with his friend Emile Bernard, Van Gogh provided insight into his bold color choices, explaining, "There are many repetitions of yellow in the earth, neutral tones, resulting from the mixing of violet with yellow, but I could hardly give a damn about the veracity of the colors." This statement reveals his prioritization of emotional and symbolic expression over naturalistic representation, a hallmark of his mature artistic philosophy.
The painting's technical execution demonstrates Van Gogh's synthesis of Neo-Impressionist influences with his own distinctive style. Most of the composition depicts a bare field with soil rendered in short orange and blue brushstrokes. These complementary colors create a powerfully vibrant effect that energizes the entire canvas. Around the edges of "The Sower," partly hidden by its current frame, Van Gogh painted a narrow multi-colored border around the sides of the canvas. This detail is difficult to see unless one knows to look for it, but it represents a direct borrowing from Seurat and other Neo-Impressionists who had introduced similar painted borders as part of their systematic approach to color harmony.
The painting nearly appeared in a significant exhibition context during Van Gogh's lifetime. In 1889, Vincent suggested to Theo that "The Sower" would be suitable for an upcoming exhibition at the Société des Artistes Indépendants. Although it ultimately wasn't included in the show, its potential presence there would have placed it alongside Neo-Impressionist works by Seurat and Signac, highlighting Van Gogh's connection to the movement.
The current National Gallery exhibition comprises 58 works, with nearly two-thirds on loan from the Kröller-Müller Museum, located in a national park in eastern Netherlands. The remaining pieces come from various international lenders, creating a comprehensive survey of the movement. As the exhibition title suggests, "Radical Harmony" also pays tribute to Helene Kröller-Müller, the visionary woman who built her own museum, which opened to critical acclaim in 1938.
Kröller-Müller was the first serious collector to assemble an important group of Neo-Impressionist works, creating what is now arguably the world's greatest collection of Neo-Impressionism. She began collecting in 1912 with a Signac painting, and a decade later acquired what serves as the centerpiece of the current London exhibition: Seurat's "Chahut" (1889-90), featuring energetic cancan dancers. Both of Kröller-Müller's advisors, Henk Bremmer and Henry van de Velde, were admirers of Neo-Impressionism and practicing artists who painted in this style themselves. Two of Van de Velde's pastels are included in the London show, and Van de Velde, who later transitioned from painting to architecture, ultimately designed the Kröller-Müller Museum building.
One painting in the exhibition holds special significance for Van Gogh enthusiasts: a portrait of painter Anna Boch, who is best known for purchasing the only identified painting by Van Gogh sold during his lifetime. On loan from the Michele and Donald D'Amour Museum of Fine Arts in Springfield, Massachusetts, the portrait was painted by Belgian artist Théo van Rysselberghe around 1892. Boch herself painted in a Neo-Impressionist style and is represented in the London exhibition by two of her own works, including an evocative image titled "Evening" (1891), showing a house at dusk, which remains in her family's possession.
The exhibition represents a comprehensive examination of both an important artistic movement and the remarkable woman whose vision preserved these masterworks for future generations. Through works by Seurat, Signac, Van Gogh, and their contemporaries, visitors can trace the development of Neo-Impressionism and understand its lasting influence on modern art, while also appreciating the prescient collecting instincts that made such a survey possible.
