1890, Vincent van Gogh, Country Road in Provence by Night -- Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) (special exhibition)
From the museum label: Van Gogh brought his work in Provence to a close, and full circle, with this pivotal summary picture. It marks his "last try" at realizing his long-standing vision of "a cypress and a star" - this time to his satisfaction, in a triumphal end note. The "very tall," "very straight," and "very dark" cypresses paired with a crescent moon preside over a nocturnal scene that draws upon such familiar elements as the haloed stars and thatch-roofed cottages of The Starry Night; evokes a bristling wheat field with "yellow canes" in the middle ground; and confides the aspirations of an artist who still entertained the hope of working side by side with Gauguin and continuing the journey they had ventured together, in lockstep, like the wayfarers on the winding road.
Van Gogh proudly shared this inventive studio conception with Gauguin, writing a month later from Auvers. It would be the last stop on his itinerary. As an obituary reported, the Dutch artist's coffin "disappeared under branches of cypress trees and bouquets of large sunflowers" on July 30, 1890.
Link to a high-resolution close-up photo of details from this painting.
Link to other paintings from “Van Gogh’s Cypresses”.
Link to other van Gogh paintings
1890, Vincent van Gogh, Country Road in Provence by Night -- Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) (special exhibition)
From the museum label: Van Gogh brought his work in Provence to a close, and full circle, with this pivotal summary picture. It marks his "last try" at realizing his long-standing vision of "a cypress and a star" - this time to his satisfaction, in a triumphal end note. The "very tall," "very straight," and "very dark" cypresses paired with a crescent moon preside over a nocturnal scene that draws upon such familiar elements as the haloed stars and thatch-roofed cottages of The Starry Night; evokes a bristling wheat field with "yellow canes" in the middle ground; and confides the aspirations of an artist who still entertained the hope of working side by side with Gauguin and continuing the journey they had ventured together, in lockstep, like the wayfarers on the winding road.
Van Gogh proudly shared this inventive studio conception with Gauguin, writing a month later from Auvers. It would be the last stop on his itinerary. As an obituary reported, the Dutch artist's coffin "disappeared under branches of cypress trees and bouquets of large sunflowers" on July 30, 1890.
Link to a high-resolution close-up photo of details from this painting.
Link to other paintings from “Van Gogh’s Cypresses”.
Link to other van Gogh paintings