Van Gogh (Olive Picking) La Racolte D'Olive

Following a self-mutilation of a part of his left ear shortly before Christmas in 1888, Vincent van Gogh was transferred to Arles Hospital. He seemed to recover rather quickly, but his recurring psychological instability combined with the local community reactions, resulted in his confinement at St-Remy-de-Provence’s psychiatric clinic, where he would stay for a year.

In the asylum, Van Gogh worked tirelessly, sometimes even during his seizures, and it is amazing how this serenity and calmness appears in the paintings he carried out there. He first painted his face, his room, the corridors, and then the nearby gardens. When he was allowed to go out, he preferred to depict mountains, cypresses, and especially olive groves. In April 1889 he wrote to his brother that the olive tree is “something so special and extraordinary! The olive tree is something else, it is, if you want to compare it, like Delacroix”. In June 1889, when he was allowed to take walks around the asylum, he found the courage to depict them, an effort not easy at all.

Paper:  240gsm museum quality art paper
Paper Size: 60 cm x 80 cm