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9 juillet 2017

'Van Gogh, Rousseau, Corot: In the Forest' opens at the Van Gogh Museum

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Vincent van Gogh, Path in the Woods, 1887, oil on canvas, 45.3 cm x 37.7 cm. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation).

AMSTERDAM.- The exhibition 'Van Gogh, Rousseau, Corot: In the Forest' combines wooded views and landscapes by Vincent van Gogh with those of such painters as Théodore Rousseau and Camille Corot. From 7 July 2017. 

These French artists were among those who retreated to the Forest of Fontainebleau in order to paint the unspoiled landscape. They favoured motifs such as trees, vegetation and the play of light and shade on the foliage and the ground. 

Trees, woodland and undergrowth 
Van Gogh, too, worked as much as possible out of doors, in the midst of nature, invariably directing his gaze at the trees, woodland and undergrowth. He sought to depict the forest in such a way ‘that one can breathe and wander about in it — and smell the woods’. 

In this summer presentation, Van Gogh’s paintings are being shown alongside those of Rousseau, Corot and other artists from the collection of the Van Gogh Museum and The Mesdag Collection. The exhibition also features several extraordinary loans: Van Gogh’s Landscape with leaning trees (1883) and Sunset at Montmajour (1888), both in private collections, alongside Pollard Birch (1885), from the Van Lanschot Collection. 

Multimedia guide 
Would you like to know more about the wooded views and landscapes by Vincent van Gogh and those of French painters as Théodore Rousseau and Camille Corot? Find out more about the exhibition with the multimedia guide. 

Available from 7 July until 10 September in eleven languages. You can book the multimedia guide at the same time as your online ticket. 

Free introduction 
What’s the relation between nature and Van Gogh’s work? Find out during a free introduction to the exhibition. From 7 July until 8 September: Monday to Friday at 10:30 am. 

The introduction outlines Van Gogh’s life in a nutshell: from his initial studies of trees to the sweeping wheatfields painted shortly before his death.

Jules Dupré, The Sunken Path, 1835-1840, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

Jules Dupré, The Sunken Path, 1835-1840, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam.

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Souvenir of Nemi

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Souvenir of Nemi. Rocks and shrubs, 1844-1845, The Mesdag Collection, The Hague.

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Forest of Fontainebleau, 1846 © 2017 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Forest of Fontainebleau1846 © 2017 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Théodore Rousseau, Brook in the Forest of Fontainebleau, 1849, The Mesdag Collection, The Hague

Théodore Rousseau, Brook in the Forest of Fontainebleau, 1849, The Mesdag Collection, The Hague.

The heath is rich, and there are marshy meadows that often remind me of T. Rousseau.

To Theo from Hoogeveen, 21 September 1883.

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Abandoned Quarry, 1850, The Mesdag Collection, The Hague

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Abandoned Quarry, 1850, The Mesdag Collection, The Hague.

Théodore Rousseau, The crooked tree at the Carrefour de l'Epine, 1852, The Mesdag Collection, The Hague

Théodore Rousseau, The crooked tree at the Carrefour de l'Epine, 1852, The Mesdag Collection, The Hague.

Claude Monet, Coastal Landscape, 1864, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (acquired with the support of the Vincent van Gogh Foundation and Rembrandt Association)

Claude Monet, Coastal Landscape, 1864, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (acquired with the support of the Vincent van Gogh Foundation and Rembrandt Association)

Narcisse Virgile Diaz de la Peña, The_Forest in Fontainebleau, 1867

Narcisse Virgile Diaz de la Peña, The Forest in Fontainebleau, 1867 © Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux.

Georges Michel, Group of three trees, undated, The Mesdag Collection, The Hague

Georges Michel, Group of three trees, undated, The Mesdag Collection, The Hague.

I see no way of describing the countryside to you as it should be done, because words fail me. But imagine the banks of the canal as miles and miles of Michels.

To Theo from Nieuw-Amsterdam, 3 October 1883.

Vincent van Gogh, Windswept Trees near Loosduinen, 1883, Private collection

Vincent van Gogh, Windswept Trees near Loosduinen, 1883, Private collection. 

Vincent van Gogh, Landscape with a Stack of Peat and Farmhouses, 1883

Vincent van Gogh, Landscape with a Stack of Peat and Farmhouses, 1883Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation).

Vincent went to Drenthe, a province in the northeast 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 Brabant after three months.

Vincent van Gogh, Pollard Birches, 1884

Vincent van Gogh, Pollard Birches, 1884Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation).

Vincent made a series of seven drawings in the area around Nuenen, including these pollard birches. He hoped – in vain – that his atmospheric impressions of nature would find a ready market.

Vincent van Gogh, Le Saule, 1885, Collection Van Lanschot

Vincent van Gogh, Le Saule, 1885, Collection Van Lanschot. 

Vincent van Gogh, Trees, 1887, oil on canvas, 46

Vincent van Gogh, Trees, 1887, oil on canvas, 46.5 cm x 38.0 cm, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)

Vincent van Gogh, The Painter on the Road to Tarascon, 1888

Vincent van Gogh, The Painter on the Road to Tarascon, 1888Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation).

Van Gogh preferred to work outdoors, like the French landscape painters he so admired.

…and am always dusty, always more laden like a porcupine with sticks, easel, canvas, and other merchandise.

To his sister Willemien, 16-20 June 1888.

Vincent van Gogh, La Crau Seen from Montmajour, 1888

Vincent van Gogh, La Crau Seen from Montmajour, 1888Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation).

Montmajour is a hill close to Arles, which Van Gogh reported visiting more than fifty times. The view it offered was beautiful:

The appeal that these vast landscapes have for me is very intense.

To Theo from Arles, 13 July 1888

Vincent Van Gogh, Sunset at Montmajour, 1888, Private collection

Vincent Van Gogh, Sunset at Montmajour, 1888, Private collection.

Vincent van Gogh, The Harvest, 1888

Vincent van Gogh, The Harvest, 1888Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation).

Arles was a small town, from which a short walk took Van Gogh into vast landscapes:

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.

To Theo from Arles, 12 June 1888.

Vincent van Gogh, The Pink Orchard, 1888

Vincent van Gogh, The Pink Orchard, 1888Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation).

In April 1888, Van Gogh wrote from Arles to his brother Theo in Paris with an order for canvas and paint:

…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.

To Theo from Arles, 5 April 1888.

Vincent van Gogh, Olive Grove, 1889

Vincent van Gogh, Olive Grove, 1889Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation).

Vincent painted what he observed, rather than from his imagination. He claimed that the Biblical scenes showing 'Christ in the Garden of Olives' by his artist friends Paul Gauguin and Emile Bernard had ‘driven me mad’. His own paintings of olive groves were done outside, among the trees themselves.

Vincent van Gogh, Garden of the Asylum, 1889

Vincent van Gogh, Garden of the Asylum, 1889Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation).

Vincent van Gogh, Undergrowth, 1889

Vincent van Gogh, Undergrowth, 1889, oil on canvas, 73.0 cm x 92.3 cm, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)

Vincent van Gogh, Wheatfield with a Reaper, 1889

Vincent van Gogh, Wheatfield with a Reaper, 1889Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation).

Vincent painted this wheatfield at Saint-Rémy. A peasant mows the golden stalks in the blazing sun. It was an image for Vincent of the end of life, which would then begin again with the sowing of the grain.

Through the iron-barred window I can make out a square of wheat in an enclosure...

To Theo from Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, 13 May 1889.

Vincent van Gogh, The Garden of Saint Paul's Hospital ('Leaf-Fall'), Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, October 1889, oil on canvas, 73

Vincent van Gogh, The Garden of Saint Paul's Hospital ("Leaf-Fall"), Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, October 1889, oil on canvas, 73.8 cm, Vincent van Gogh, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation).

Vincent van Gogh, Landscape at Twilight, 1890

Vincent van Gogh, Landscape at Twilight, 1890Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation).

Finally 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.

To Theo from Auvers-sur-Oise, 24 June 1890.

Vincent van Gogh, Undergrowth with Two Figures, June 1890

Vincent van Gogh, Undergrowth with Two Figures, June 1890Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation).

Vincent van Gogh, Wheatfield under Thunderclouds, 1890

Vincent van Gogh, Wheatfield under Thunderclouds, 1890Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation).

Vincent wrote to Theo and to his sister-in-law Jo about his recently painted wheatfields, through which he wanted to express ‘sadness, extreme loneliness’.

Vincent van Gogh, Wheatfield with Crows, 1890

Vincent van Gogh, Wheatfield with Crows, 1890Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation).

This painting was long believed to be Vincent’s last work. A popular myth, but it’s not true.

Vincent van Gogh, Tree Roots, 1890

Vincent van Gogh, Tree Roots, 1890, oil on canvas, 50.3 cm x 100.1 cm, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation).

These tree roots are Vincent’s very last painting. Undergrowth in a marlpit painted from close by.

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