In the year before his death, Van Gogh lived in the asylum of Saint-Paul-de-Mausole. Laboureur dans un champ reflects an artist determined to heal himself through work On most mornings between May 1889 and May 1890, the outside world visible to Vincent van Gogh appeared much like it does in Laboureur dans un champ : a low stone wall enclosing a wheat field, a few poplars, an old farm house, a ploughman tilling the soil. Van Gogh began this painting in the final days of August 1889, completing it on 2 September. (http://www.christies.com/features/Labourer-dans-un-champ-by-Vincent-van-Gogh-8643-3.aspx) Van Gogh’s Laboureur dans un champ flew by its pre-sale estimate of $50 million to achieve a total of $81.3 million, selling to Rebecca Wei, the Hong Kong-based head of Christie’s Asia. (http://www.artnews.com/2017/11/13/christies-strong-imp-mod-sale-beats-high-estimate-479-3-m-haul-led-81-3-m-van-gogh/)