Tree Roots
Currently on view
Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890), Auvers-sur-Oise, July 1890
oil on canvas, 50.3 cm x 100.1 cm
Credits (obliged to state): Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
This painting seems at first sight to consist of a jumble of bright colours and fanciful abstract forms. Only after that do you realise that it shows a slope with tree trunks and roots. These are trees used for timber, growing in a marl quarry. Such quarries could be found around Auvers (FR). The work was not entirely completed. That explains its unfinished appearance. It is probably Van Gogh's very last painting. Andries Bonger, the brother-in-law of Vincent's brother Theo, described it in a letter: 'The morning before his death, he had painted a sous-bois [forest scene], full of sun and life.'
- F-number
- F0816
- JH-number
- JH2113
- Object number
- s0195V1962
- Dimensions
- 50.3 cm x 100.1 cm, 69.8 cm x 119.7 cm, 9.5 cm
- Provenance
- With his brother Theo van Gogh, Paris, after July 1890; after his death on 25 January 1891, inherited by his widow, Jo van Gogh-Bonger, and their son, Vincent Willem van Gogh, Paris; administered until her death on 2 September 1925 by Jo van Gogh-Bonger, Bussum/Amsterdam/Laren; given on loan by Vincent Willem van Gogh, Laren to the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, since 20 January 1931; transferred by Vincent Willem van Gogh on 10 July 1962 to the Vincent van Gogh Foundation, Amsterdam; agreement concluded between the Vincent van Gogh Foundation and the State of the Netherlands, in which the preservation and management of the collection, and its placing in the Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh, to be realized in Amsterdam, is entrusted to the State, 21 July 1962; given on loan until the opening of the museum on 2 June 1973 to the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; on permanent loan to the Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh from 2 June 1973 and at the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, since 1 July 1994.
- artist
- Vincent van Gogh
- Credits (obliged to state)
- Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Kleur als Taal. Etel Adnan, 20 May-4 September 2022
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Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh, Japan : Van Gogh's Utopia, 7 June-22 September 1991
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh, De schilders van Tachtig. Nederlandse schilderkunst 1880-1895, 1 March-26 May 1991
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Strasbourg, Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain Strasbourg, Vincent van Gogh. Collection du Musée National Vincent van Gogh à Amsterdam, 22 October 1972-15 January 1973, no. 45
Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 150 jaar Nederlandse kunst. Schilderijen, beelden, tekeningen, grafiek 1813-1963, 6 July-29 September 1963, no. 110
Toledo (Ohio), Toledo Museum of Art, Vincent van Gogh 1853-1890, 7 March-30 April 1954, no. 171
Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), Philadelphia Museum of Art, Vincent van Gogh 1853-1890, 2 January-28 February 1954, no. 171
Saint Louis, City Art Museum of Saint Louis, Vincent van Gogh 1853-1890, 17 October-13 December 1953, no. 171
Grenoble, Musée de Grenoble, Vincent van Gogh, 30 March-2 May 1951
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Utrecht, Vereeniging Voor de Kunst, Tentoonstelling van schilderijen door Vincent van Gogh, 1 May-5 June 1929, no. 51
Furuta, H., "Daubigny's garden" by Vincent van Gogh, 2010, p. 65
Search in the collection
The Place Where Van Gogh Painted His Last Masterpiece
In 2020 a postcard was discovered that indicated the plausible location of Tree Roots.
Historical Photograph Confirms Exact Location ‘Tree Roots’
A recently uncovered historical photograph confirms the exact location of Vincent van Gogh's last painting Tree Roots.