Crab on its Back

Crab on its Back
Dutch: Een op zijn rug liggende krab
ArtistVincent van Gogh
Year1887 or 1889 (disputed) (1887 or 1889 (disputed))
CatalogueF 605
TypeStill life
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions38 cm × 46.5 cm (15 in × 18.3 in)
LocationVan Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Crab on its Back (Dutch: Een op zijn rug liggende krab) is an oil painting by Vincent van Gogh. It is a still life of a crab lying on its back with a green background. The Van Gogh Museum dates the work to August–September 1887,[1] while other sources date it to early 1889.[2] The painting is in the permanent collection of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam in the Netherlands.[1]

The painting is possibly inspired by a Japanese print of a crab by Hokusai that Van Gogh had seen in the magazine Le Japon Artistique, which his brother Theo van Gogh had sent him in September 1888.[1][3]

  1. ^ a b c "A Crab on its Back - Van Gogh Museum". www.vangoghmuseum.nl. Archived from the original on 2018-10-14. Retrieved 2018-10-14.
  2. ^ For example, Vincent van Gogh, Victoria Charles, p.155
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference nationalgallery was invoked but never defined (see the help page).