At the psychiatric clinic in Saint-Rémy, Vincent van Gogh worked whenever he had the chance. Preferably outdoors, as he saw nature and art as being inseparably linked. This story reveals where and when Vincent fell in love with nature, and how he went in search of colour and light in the South of France.
‘... in all of nature, in trees for instance, I see expression and a soul, as it were’
Peace and solace
Following his notorious breakdown in Arles, Vincent van Gogh admitted himself to the Saint-Paul asylum, in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. When he was allowed to work outside, one of his favourite places to paint was in the nearby olive groves. They inspired him, but also offered him peace, and solace:
‘... it seems to me that nature sees to it that illness is a means of getting us back on our feet, of healing us, rather than an absolute evil’.
Vincent van Gogh, Olive Trees, 1889. Collectie: National Galleries Scotland
Intimate and immensely old
‘... the murmur of an olive grove has something very intimate, immensely old about it. It’s too beautiful for me to dare paint it...’
Vincent wrote this to his brother Theo from Arles. Soon after, in Saint-Rémy, he did dare to try. With an explosion of colour, he painted the olive trees under the bright light and intense heat of the Provençal sun. This was his first olive grove, and he completed the painting in a single session.
Vincent van Gogh, Sketch of Three Cicadas, 1889
Chirping
Vincent worked in the olive groves accompanied by the sound of the chirping crickets. He made a sketch of them, which he sent to his brother Theo. The insects reminded him of home in the Netherlands:
‘Their song in times of great heat holds the same charm for me as the cricket in the peasant’s hearth at home’.
Rather outdoors than indoors
Vincent preferred painting outdoors. But that did have its disadvantages, as he was well aware. From the Netherlands, he wrote to his brother Theo:
‘... I must have picked a good hundred flies and more off the 4 canvases that you’ll be getting, not to mention dust and sand &c. – not to mention that, when one carries them across the heath and through hedgerows for a few hours, the odd branch or two scrapes across them’
Vincent van Gogh, Olive Grove, 1889. Collectie: Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo
This painting aptly illustrates Vincent’s words. He painted most of the work on location in the olive grove, as we can see from the paint: it contains tiny bits of plants, grains of sand and even insect footprints.
Wandering the fields of Brabant
Vincent’s love of nature didn’t come out of thin air. In his youth, he went on long walks through the fields and woods near Zundert, the village where he was born. It was here in the Brabant countryside that he developed his lifelong love of nature.
It’s hardly surprising that Vincent’s art also became inseparably linked with nature. Nowhere did he find as much inspiration, peace and solace as outdoors.
‘… if I felt no love for nature and my work, then I would be unhappy’, he wrote to Theo in 1882.
Always continue walking
We know a lot about Vincent, thanks in a large part to the letters that he sent to his brother Theo. As early as 1874, Vincent advised his brother:
‘Always continue walking a lot and loving nature, for that’s the real way to learn to understand art better and better’.
Exploring nature
‘It isn’t the language of painters one ought to listen to but the language of nature’.
Vincent believed that an artist should truly know and understand nature. The best way to achieve that was by living and working in the middle of it, in the unspoiled countryside.
Vincent van Gogh, Landscape with a Stack of Peat and Farmhouses, 1883
‘Superb’ but lonely
Vincent went to Drenthe, a province in the north-east of the Netherlands, in search of the unspoilt countryside he had heard about from other artists. He thought it was ‘superb’, but he was lonely there and returned to his parents in Brabant after three months.
Vincent van Gogh, Pine Trees in the Fen, 1884
'Moments that one can see these days'
Vincent sometimes had to work quickly to capture a certain atmosphere in a drawing or painting. In a letter to a friend, he commented on drawings including this one:
‘I had to make a rough stab at it in order somehow to render (…) nature’s mood at that moment – the overall aspect – in a relatively short time’.
Vincent van Gogh, bird nest, letter sketch, October 1885
Vincent’s birds’ nests
While in Nuenen, Vincent used birds’ nests as a subject for still lifes. He found the nests while out walking, or paid local boys to collect them for him. Birds like the wren and the golden oriole constructed ingenious nests, the artistry of which Vincent considered equal to his own.
From the ‘Parisian furnace’ to the calm of the south
Vincent moved to Paris in February 1886, but after two years of hard work, he grew tired of the busy city. He went to live in the small town of Arles in the South of France, in search of light and peace.
Vincent van Gogh, The White Orchard, 1888
Vincent thought that the fresh green in the South of France was much more intense than in the north. It was even still attractive after it had been scorched: then the landscape came alive in different shades of ‘gold’. Vincent walked for hours looking for subjects for his work.
Easel with painting supplies.
Vincent van Gogh, The painter on his way to work, 1888
‘... always dusty, always more laden like a porcupine with sticks, easel, canvas, and other merchandise’
he wrote to his sister Willemien.
Vincent van Gogh, The Pink Orchard, 1888
Cheering
In April 1888, Vincent sent an order for canvas and paint to his brother Theo in Paris:
‘… but for Christ’s sake get the paint to me without delay. The season of orchards in blossom is so short, and you know these subjects are among the ones that cheer everyone up’.
Vincent van Gogh, The Harvest, 1888
A new motif
Arles was a small town, from which a short walk took Vincent into vast landscapes. He wrote to Theo:
‘I have a new subject on the go, green and yellow fields as far as the eye can see, which I’ve already drawn twice and am starting again as a painting...’
Vincent van Gogh, La Crau Seen from Montmajour, 1888
Intense view
About 5 kilometres from Arles is Montmajour, a hill topped by the ruin of an abbey. You can see the ruin in the distance in the painting The Harvest. Vincent visited Montmajour more than 50 times. The hill offered a beautiful view of the surrounding area:
‘The appeal that these vast landscapes have for me is very intense’.
Even within the walls, Vincent sought nature
Following his breakdown in Arles, Vincent had himself committed to the asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. At first, he wasn’t allowed to leave the grounds. But even within the walls of the psychiatric hospital, he still found enough inspiration for his art.
Vincent van Gogh, Wheatfield with a Reaper, 1889
Circle of life
‘Through the iron-barred window I can make out a square of wheat in an enclosure...’
A peasant mows the golden wheat stalks under the blazing sun. Vincent saw this as an image of the circle of life. Mowing signified the end. But once the grain was sowed, life started again, colouring the fields a fresh shade of green.
‘... when I’m in the country, it’s not so difficult for me to be alone, because in the country one feels the bonds that unite us all more easily’.
Vincent van Gogh, Garden of the Asylum, 1889
Vincent van Gogh, View of the Alpilles, 1890
Fields of olive trees
‘There are very beautiful fields of olive trees here, which are grey and silvery in leaf like pollard willows. Then I never tire of the blue sky’, wrote Vincent to his mother in July 1889.
Vincent van Gogh, Olive Trees, 1889. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri
The Provençal sun was yet to reach its full intensity when Vincent painted this work. The fresh green grass and the red poppies reveal that it must have been late spring or early summer.
And yet Vincent himself was not very satisfied with his initial olive groves. A few months later, he wrote to his friend Emile Bernard:
‘The olive trees down here, my good fellow, they’d suit your book; I haven’t been fortunate this year in making a success of them, but I’ll go back to it, that’s my intention’.
Vincent van Gogh, Olive Grove, 1889
After reality
Vincent was much more concerned with painting what he observed than from his imagination. If you wanted to paint an olive grove, that is where you should start. He was therefore certainly not a fan of the Biblical scenes ‘Christ in the Garden of Olives’ by his artist friends Paul Gauguin and Emile Bernard:
‘… now isn’t the moment to ask me to approve of friend G’s composition – and friend Bernard has probably never seen an olive tree’.
Paul Gauguin, Christ in the Garden of Olives, 1889. Collectie: Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, Florida
Vincent van Gogh, Olive Grove, 1889
Olive picking
In December 1889, the olive harvest was in full swing. Vincent set up his easel between the trees, and watched the labourers busily picking olives.
Vincent was so pleased with this painting that he later made another version for Theo. And another for his mother and sister. While in Saint-Rémy, Vincent’s thoughts also regularly turned to ‘home’, in the Netherlands.
Vincent van Gogh, Women Picking Olives, 1889, Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation, Athens
Vincent van Gogh, Women Picking Olives, 1889, National Gallery of Art, Washington. Chester Dale Collection
Vincent van Gogh, Women Picking Olives, 1889, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg Collection
Reminiscences of Brabant
Vincent drew and painted several reminiscences of his native province of Brabant during his time at the asylum. He thought increasingly about returning to ‘the North’.
Vincent van Gogh, Landscape with Houses and Two Diggers, 1890
Hybrid forms
Vincent blended past and present in this drawing of Dutch-style houses with low beech hedges, set in the hilly surroundings of the asylum in Saint-Rémy.
Back to the North
Vincent finally headed back northwards in May 1890, but he never saw the Dutch countryside again. His final destination was Auvers-sur-Oise, not far from Paris.
Peace and solace in the fields around Auvers-sur-Oise
Vincent painted several sweeping landscapes in the final months of his life: they were an ode to the countryside, to which he added a deeper emotional charge. He hoped that his paintings could express ‘… what I can’t say in words, what I consider healthy and fortifying about the countryside’.
Vincent van Gogh, Wheatfield under Thunderclouds, 1890
Thundery sky
Vincent wrote to Theo and his sister-in-law Jo about his recently painted wheatfields, through which he wanted to express ‘sadness, extreme loneliness’.
Vincent van Gogh, Landscape at Twilight, 1890
Twilight
‘… a night effect – two completely dark pear trees against yellowing sky with wheatfields, and in the violet background the castle encased in the dark greenery’.
Vincent van Gogh, Wheatfield with Crows, 1890
Crows
This painting was long believed to be Vincent’s last work. Many people still think it is... A popular myth, but it’s not true.
Vincent van Gogh, Tree Roots, 1890
Last painting
This is Vincent’s very last painting. A subject from nature: undergrowth in a marl pit, which he painted up close.
Resting place
On 27 July 1890, Vincent took his last walk out into the wheatfields around Auvers. There, he shot himself in the chest. He died two days later. In his brother’s words, his final resting place is ‘… a sunny spot amid the wheatfields’.
‘The duty of the painter is to study nature in depth and to use all his intelligence, to put his feelings into his work so that it becomes comprehensible to others’.