Peach Trees in Blossom

Last updated
Peach Trees in Blossom, 1889 Vincent van Gogh - Perzikbomen in bloei.jpg
Peach Trees in Blossom, 1889

Peach Trees in Blossom is an 1899 painting by Vincent van Gogh. It is in the collection of the Courtauld Institute of Art. [1] The painting depicts a field with peach trees on the outskirts of Arles with the Alpilles mountains in the background. [1] The painting was intended as a homage to Japanese landscape prints which influenced Van Gogh. [1] It was created a few months after he had severed his ear and during a mentally unstable period in which he was still a patient at the men's hospital in Arles. [1]

Contents

Van Gogh wrote to his brother, Theo van Gogh in April 1889 about his work on the painting, and subsequently included a sketch of the work in a letter to Paul Signac sent on 10 April 1889. [1]

History

Peach Trees in Blossom was bought by the Belgian artist Anna Boch in 1891 for 350 francs (equivalent to £14 in 1891 and equivalent to £1,627in 2021). [1] It was next acquired in 1927 by Samuel Courtauld for £9,000 (equivalent to £571,525in 2021). [1] The painting was hung by Courtauld in the Etruscan Room of his house in Portman Square in Marylebone. [1]

The painting was lent by Courtauld to an exhibition in the Village Hall of Silver End in Essex in 1935, as part of a project called 'Art for the People' to broaden public access to works of art. [1] In a 1935 letter to Lady Aberconway, Courtauld recalled that a recent drive through the countryside of Kent reminded him of the painting with its "bright green grass & blossoming fruit trees & the newly washed sky & water glistening everywhere". [1] The work presently hangs in the Great Room of the Courthald Institute of Art. [1]

On 30 June 2022 two protesters from Just Stop Oil glued themselves to the frame of the painting and caused £2,000 of damage to it. [2] Both were found guilty of causing criminal damage to the painting, one was found jailed for three weeks and the other received a suspended sentence. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vincent van Gogh</span> Dutch painter (1853–1890)

Vincent Willem van Gogh was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2100 artworks, including around 860 oil paintings, most of them in the last two years of his life. His oeuvre includes landscapes, still lifes, portraits, and self-portraits, most of which are characterized by bold colors and dramatic brushwork that contributed to the rise of expressionism in modern art. Van Gogh's work was beginning to gain critical attention before he died at age 37, by what was suspected at the time to be a suicide. During his lifetime, only one of Van Gogh's paintings, The Red Vineyard, was sold.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portraits of Vincent van Gogh</span>

The portraits of Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) include self-portraits, portraits of him by other artists, and photographs—one of which is dubious—of the Dutch artist. Van Gogh's dozens of self-portraits were an important part of his œuvre as a painter. Most probably, van Gogh's self-portraits are depicting the face as it appeared in the mirror he used to reproduce his face, i.e. his right side in the image is in reality the left side of his face.

<i>Sunflowers</i> (Van Gogh series) Series of paintings by Vincent van Gogh

Sunflowers is the title of two series of still life paintings by the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh. The first series, executed in Paris in 1887, depicts the flowers lying on the ground, while the second set, made a year later in Arles, shows a bouquet of sunflowers in a vase. In the artist's mind, both sets were linked by the name of his friend Paul Gauguin, who acquired two of the Paris versions. About eight months later, Van Gogh hoped to welcome and impress Gauguin again with Sunflowers, now part of the painted Décoration for the Yellow House that he prepared for the guestroom of his home in Arles, where Gauguin was supposed to stay.

<i>The Starry Night</i> 1889 painting by Vincent van Gogh

The Starry Night is an oil-on-canvas painting by the Dutch Post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh painted in June 1889. It depicts the view from the east-facing window of his asylum room at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, just before sunrise, with the addition of an imaginary village. It has been in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City since 1941, acquired through the Lillie P. Bliss Bequest. Widely regarded as Van Gogh's magnum opus, The Starry Night is one of the most recognizable paintings in Western art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Courtauld Gallery</span> Art museum in London, England

The Courtauld Gallery is an art museum in Somerset House, on the Strand in central London. It houses the collection of the Samuel Courtauld Trust and operates as an integral part of the Courtauld Institute of Art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anton Mauve</span> Dutch painter (1838–1888)

Anthonij "Anton" Rudolf Mauve was a Dutch realist painter who was a leading member of the Hague School. He signed his paintings 'A. Mauve' or with a monogrammed 'A.M.'. A master colorist, he was a very significant early influence on his cousin-in-law Vincent van Gogh.

<i>Bedroom in Arles</i> Series of three similar paintings by Vincent van Gogh

Bedroom in Arles is the title given to three similar paintings by 19th-century Dutch Post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh.

<i>Flowering Orchards</i> Series of paintings by Vincent van Gogh

Flowering Orchards is a series of paintings which Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh executed in Arles, in southern France in the spring of 1888. Van Gogh arrived in Arles in February 1888 in a snowstorm; within two weeks the weather changed and the fruit trees were in blossom. Appreciating the symbolism of rebirth, Van Gogh worked with optimism and zeal on about fourteen paintings of flowering trees in the early spring. He also made paintings of flowering trees in Saint-Rémy the following year, in 1889.

<i>The Wheat Field</i> Series of paintings by Vincent van Gogh

The Wheat Field is a series of oil paintings executed by Vincent van Gogh in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. All of them depict the view Van Gogh had from the window of his bedroom on the top floor of the asylum: a field enclosed by stone walls just beneath his window and excluded from normal life by the rear wall of the asylum grounds; beyond this enclosure farm land, accompanied by olive groves and vineyards, ran up to the hills at the foot of the mountain range called Les Alpilles.

<i>Wheat Field with Cypresses</i> Paintings by Vincent van Gogh

A Wheatfield with Cypresses is any of three similar 1889 oil paintings by Vincent van Gogh, as part of his wheat field series. All were exhibited at the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole mental asylum at Saint-Rémy near Arles, France, where Van Gogh was voluntarily a patient from May 1889 to May 1890. The works were inspired by the view from the window at the asylum towards the Alpilles mountains.

<i>Landscape with Snow</i> Painting by Vincent van Gogh

Landscape with Snow is a painting by Vincent van Gogh in 1888, believed to be one of the first paintings that he made in Arles. It is one of at least ten 1882 to 1889 oil and watercolor van Gogh paintings of a snowy landscape. The painting reflects the La Crau plains set against Montmajour and hills along the horizon.

<i>Wheat Fields</i> Series of paintings by Vincent van Gogh

Wheat Fields is a series of dozens of paintings by Dutch Post-Impressionist artist Vincent van Gogh, borne out of his religious studies and sermons, connection to nature, appreciation of manual laborers and desire to provide a means of offering comfort to others. The wheat field works demonstrate his progression as an artist from the drab Wheat Sheaves made in 1885 in the Netherlands to the colorful and dramatic 1888–1890 paintings from Arles, Saint-Rémy and Auvers-sur-Oise in rural France.

<i>Butterflies</i> (Van Gogh series) 1889–90 series of paintings by Vincent van Gogh

Butterflies is a series of paintings made by Vincent van Gogh in 1889 and 1890. Van Gogh made at least four paintings of butterflies and one of a moth. The metamorphosis of the caterpillar into a butterfly was symbolic to Van Gogh of men and women's capability for transformation.

<i>Almond Blossoms</i> Group of paintings by Vincent van Gogh

Almond Blossoms is a group of several paintings made in 1888 and 1890 by Vincent van Gogh in Arles and Saint-Rémy, southern France of blossoming almond trees. Flowering trees were special to van Gogh. They represented awakening and hope. He enjoyed them aesthetically and found joy in painting flowering trees. The works reflect the influence of Impressionism, Divisionism, and Japanese woodcuts. Almond Blossom was made to celebrate the birth of his nephew and namesake, son of his brother Theo and sister-in-law Jo.

<i>Saint-Paul Asylum, Saint-Rémy</i> (Van Gogh series) Series of paintings by Vincent van Gogh

Saint-Paul Asylum, Saint-Rémy is a collection of paintings that Vincent van Gogh made when he was a self-admitted patient at the Saint-Paul asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, since renamed the Clinique Van Gogh, from May 1889 until May 1890. During much of his stay there he was confined to the grounds of the asylum, and he made paintings of the garden, the enclosed wheat field that he could see outside his room and a few portraits of individuals at the asylum. During his stay at Saint-Paul asylum, Van Gogh experienced periods of illness when he could not paint. When he was able to resume, painting provided solace and meaning for him. Nature seemed especially meaningful to him, trees, the landscape, even caterpillars as representative of the opportunity for transformation and budding flowers symbolizing the cycle of life. One of the more recognizable works of this period is The Irises. Works of the interior of the hospital convey the isolation and sadness that he felt. From the window of his cell he saw an enclosed wheat field, the subject of many paintings made from his room. He was able to make but a few portraits while at Saint-Paul.

<i>Hospital in Arles</i> Painting series by Vincent van Gogh

Hospital at Arles is the subject of two paintings that Vincent van Gogh made of the hospital in which he stayed in December 1888 and again in January 1889. The hospital is located in Arles in southern France. One of the paintings is of the central garden between four buildings titled Garden of the Hospital in Arles ; the other painting is of a ward within the hospital titled Ward of the Hospital in Arles. Van Gogh also painted Portrait of Dr. Félix Rey, a portrait of his physician while in the hospital.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Van Gogh's family in his art</span> Appearances of Vincent van Goghs family in his art

Van Gogh's family in his art refers to works that Vincent van Gogh made for or about Van Gogh family members. In 1881, Vincent drew a portrait of his grandfather, also named Vincent van Gogh, and his sister Wil. While living in Nuenen, Vincent memorialized his father in Still Life with Bible following his death in 1885. There he also made many paintings and drawings in 1884 and 1885 of his parents' vicarage, its garden and the church. At the height of his career in Arles he made Portrait of the Artist's Mother, Memory of the Garden at Etten of his mother and sister and Novel Reader, which is thought to be of his sister, Wil.

<i>The Letters of Vincent van Gogh</i> Collection of letters written and received by Vincent van Gogh

The Letters of Vincent van Gogh is a collection of 903 surviving letters written (820) or received (83) by Vincent van Gogh. More than 650 of these were from Vincent to his brother Theo. The collection also includes letters van Gogh wrote to his sister Wil and other relatives, as well as between artists such as Paul Gauguin, Anthon van Rappard, and Émile Bernard.

<i>Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear</i> 1889 self-portrait by Vincent van Gogh

Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear is an 1889 self-portrait by Dutch Post-Impressionist artist Vincent van Gogh. The painting is in the collection of the Courtauld Institute of Art and on display in the Gallery at Somerset House. The painting includes inspiration from Japanese Woodblock printing.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "The story behind the exuberant spring landscape Van Gogh painted just weeks after slashing his ear". The Art Newspaper . 22 April 2022. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  2. 1 2 "TJust Stop Oil: Pair guilty of damaging Van Gogh painting's frame". BBC News . 22 November 2022. Retrieved 22 November 2022.