This is thought to have been painted soon after Van Gogh's release from hospital in Arles in January 1889. On 7 January he wrote to his brother Theo: 'I am going to set to work again tomorrow. I shall start by doing one or two still lifes to get used to painting again'. He was probably also inspired by a woodcut by Hokusai, 'Crabs', which was reproduced in the May 1888 issue of 'Le Japon Artistique', sent to Vincent by Theo in September of that year. In a related painting in the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, the crab is shown lying on its back. Here it is probably the same crab shown both on its back and upright. The artist has used varied brushstrokes to convey texture. Parallel strokes sculpt the creature's form on an exuberant sea-like surface.

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　　这幅《两只螃蟹》（Two Crabs，1889年， © 私人收藏，经允许使用）是梵高在1889年1月从阿尔勒医院出院后不久创作的。1月7日，他给弟弟提奥写信说：“明天我要重新开始工作。先画一两幅静物画，以便重新适应绘画。”
　　梵高当时可能还受到一幅由葛饰北斋创作的木刻版画《螃蟹》的启发，这幅作品于1888年5月刊登在《艺术日本》杂志上，并在同年9月由提奥寄给梵高。而在阿姆斯特丹梵高博物馆（Van Gogh Museum）的一幅相关画作中，螃蟹是仰面躺着的。
　　画中，很可能是同一只螃蟹分别以仰面和直立的姿势呈现。梵高使用了多样的笔触来传达质感，在一个深海般、充满活力的表面上以平行的笔触勾勒出螃蟹的形态。