| Tree Roots | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Vincent van Gogh |
| Year | 1890 |
| Catalogue | |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Movement | Post Impressionism |
| Dimensions | 50.0 cm× 100.0 cm(19.7 in× 40.6 in) |
| Location | Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam |
Tree Roots is an oil painting by Vincent van Gogh that he painted in July 1890 when he lived in Auvers-sur-Oise, France. [1] [2] The painting is an example of the double-square canvases that he employed in his last landscapes. [3]
Van Gogh spent the last few months of his life in Auvers-sur-Oise, a small town just north of Paris, after he left an asylum at Saint-Rémy in May 1890. [4] The painting is considered by some to be his last painting before his death late July 1890. [Works 1]
Jan Hulsker considers it the most original of his double-square canvases. The viewer thinks he can identify tree roots and trunks, but is hard put to identify the subject as a whole. [3] Van der Veen and Knapp comment that in this painting, as also in Undergrowth with Two Figures , the painting itself and not the subject is pre-eminent, heralding abstract painting and German expressionism. [5]
In 1882, while at The Hague, van Gogh had made a study of tree roots, Study of a Tree (below), which he had completed at the same time as a larger version (now lost) of Sorrow . In a letter to his brother Theo, van Gogh said that he wanted to express something of life's struggle in these drawings. [Letters 1] It is not known whether he had returned to the same thoughts with his 1890 Tree Roots. The letters give no hint and the colours are perhaps too bright for such sombre thoughts. [Works 1]
On April 14, 1991 Tree Roots was stolen from the Van Gogh museum along with 19 other paintings. Tree Roots was successfully recovered. [6]
In 2020, Wouter Van der Veen, scientific director of Institut Van Gogh determined the probable location where the painting was made, based on an historical postcard, to be on the rue Daubigny in Auvers-sur-Oise. [7] He confirmed his finding with a historical photograph from circa 1907 in 2021. The location is about 150 metres from Auberge Ravoux, Van Gogh's hotel at the time. [8]
I wanted to express something of life's struggle ... in those gnarled black roots with their knots.
... one that makes a pendant of undergrowth, lilac trunks of poplars ...
Then undergrowth, violet trunks of poplars which cross the landscape perpendicularly like columns ... [includes a sketch]
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 characterised by bold colours 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 from a self-inflicted gunshot at age 37. During his lifetime, only one of Van Gogh's paintings, The Red Vineyard, was sold.
The Red Vineyards near Arles is an oil painting by the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, executed on a privately primed Toile de 30 piece of burlap in early November 1888. It depicts workers in a vineyard, and it is the only painting known by name that Van Gogh sold in his lifetime.
The Potato Eaters is an oil painting by Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh painted in April 1885 in Nuenen, Netherlands.
Theodorus van Gogh was a Dutch art dealer and the younger brother of Vincent van Gogh. Known as Theo, his support of his older brother's artistic ambitions and well-being allowed Vincent to devote himself entirely to painting. As an art dealer, Theo van Gogh played a crucial role in introducing contemporary French art to the public.
Wheatfield with Crows is a July 1890 painting by Vincent van Gogh. It has been cited by several critics as one of his greatest works.
Auvers-sur-Oise is a commune in the department of Val-d'Oise, on the northwestern outskirts of Paris, France. It is located 27.2 km (16.9 mi) from the centre of Paris. It is associated with several famous artists, the most prominent being Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890). This was the place where van Gogh died and where he and his brother, Theo, were buried.
Farms near Auvers or Thatched Cottages by a Hill is an oil painting by Vincent van Gogh that he painted in July 1890 when he lived in Auvers-sur-Oise, France. The painting is an example of the double-square canvases that he employed in his last landscapes.
Sorrowing Old Man (At Eternity's Gate) is an oil painting by Vincent van Gogh that he made in 1890 in Saint-Rémy de Provence based on an early lithograph. The painting was completed in early May at a time when he was convalescing from a severe relapse in his health some two months before his death, which is generally accepted as a suicide.
Daubigny's Garden, painted three times by Vincent van Gogh, depicts the enclosed garden of Charles-François Daubigny, a painter whom Van Gogh admired throughout his life.
Lying Cow is the name of two oil paintings created by Vincent van Gogh around 1882 when he was living at The Hague.
The Auberge Ravoux is a French historic landmark located in the heart of the village of Auvers-sur-Oise. It is known as the House of Van Gogh because the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh spent the last 70 days of his life as a lodger at the auberge. During his stay at Auvers, Van Gogh created more than 80 paintings and 64 sketches before shooting himself in the chest on 27 July 1890 and dying two days later on 29 July 1890. The auberge (inn) has been restored as a museum and tourist attraction. The room where Van Gogh lived and died has been restored and can be viewed by the public.
Vincent van Gogh died in the early morning of 29 July, 1890 in his room at the Auberge Ravoux, in the French village of Auvers-sur-Oise, after presumably shooting himself two days earlier.
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.
Thatched Cottages at Cordeville, 1890 or Chaumes de Cordeville à Auvers-sur-Oise is an oil painting by Vincent van Gogh that he painted in May 1890 when he lived in Auvers-sur-Oise, France.
Old Vineyard with Peasant Woman is a watercolour painting by Vincent van Gogh that he made in May 1890 when he lived in Auvers-sur-Oise, France.
Landscape with a Carriage and a Train is an oil painting by Vincent van Gogh that he painted in June 1890 when he lived in Auvers-sur-Oise, France.
View of the Asylum and Chapel of Saint-Rémy is an oil on canvas painting by Vincent van Gogh that he painted in autumn 1889 at Saint-Rémy, France, where he had voluntarily incarcerated himself in a lunatic asylum.
Houses at Auvers is an oil painting by Vincent van Gogh. It was created towards the end of May or beginning of June 1890, shortly after he had moved to Auvers-sur-Oise, a small town northwest of Paris, France.
Landscape at Auvers in the Rain is an oil painting on canvas by the Dutch Post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh.
Wheatfield Under Thunderclouds is an 1890 oil painting by Vincent van Gogh. The painting measures 50.4 cm × 101.3 cm. It depicts a relatively flat and featureless landscape with fields of green wheat, under a foreboding dark blue sky with a few heavy white clouds. The horizon divides the work almost into two, with shades of green and yellow below and shades of blue and white above. Since 1973 it has been on permanent loan to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.
Media related to Tree roots by Vincent van Gogh at Wikimedia Commons