At the end of 1888, Van Gogh was in an extremely unstable state, which led him to the hospital in Arles. After leaving it, the artist again began to paint still lifes to restore skills and improve the level of skill. The plot for them served as traditional productions from various subjects, as well as individual things that somehow attracted the attention of the artist.
In this work, he painted a large crab lying on the back. Green was selected for the background is not by chance, in fact, he is able to complement the maximum red crab and create, so the contrast, bright combination on the canvas. The painting is written in a wide manner, the artist boldly models the volumes with wide planes. Deep dark shadows create a mood of intense anxiety, and sharp contrasts enhance the sense of aggression, which is already embedded in the plot of the picture.
There are several versions of why the picture depicts the crab. According to one of them, this is a symbol of moral exhaustion, which became the cause of Van Gogh’s disease. According to the second, the artist wanted to indicate not so much his state, but the “moral image” of all mankind. It should be noted that none of these versions is supported by facts and is not fully justified.
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