The Pink Peach Tree, or Pink peach trees ("Memory of Mauve"), is one of the first great paintings of the Arlesian spring by Vincent van Gogh. Painted around March 30, 1888, it combines a flowering tree, a blue sky covered with clouds and worked earth. That same evening, the reception of a commemorative text dedicated to Anton Mauve transformed this luminous landscape into a tribute.
What pink peach tree are we analyzing here?
Several very similar French titles circulate around the orchards of 1888. The main table of this article is F394/JH1379, identified by his dedication "Souvenir de Mauve" at the bottom left. Van Gogh had initially added "Vincent & Theo", as he reports in his letters; the words "& Theo" are no longer visible today. The notes to letter 590 suggest that Vincent removed them, probably at Theo's request, before complete drying. It is kept at the Kroeller-Müller Museum in Otterlo and measures 73 × 60 cm.
The pattern is vertical. A slightly off-center peach tree spreads its branches over almost the entire surface, in front of a reed fence and a clear blue sky. The flowers mix white, pink, orange and red; the plowed soil receives light, green, blue and yellow touches. It is therefore neither an isolated botanical study nor a dark funerary scene: it is a spring landscape that became a memorial after its execution.
March 30, 1888: a tree seized at the right time
In the letter 590 to his sister Willemien, dated around March 30, Van Gogh describes precisely the picture he has just brought back: a plot of land turned over in an orchard, a wicker fence and two peach trees in full bloom, pink against a sparkling blue sky, with white clouds and sunshine. The correspondence thus confirms the subject, the light and the proximity of the execution to the date indicated by the museum.
Van Gogh then worked in a seasonal emergency. The flowers only last a few days, and the weather in March remains changeable. The Kroeller-Müller Museum indicates that it produced fourteen paintings in a short time, accompanied by drawings and sketches. This campaign inaugurates one of the most coherent series of its Arles period. Our file on van Gogh's orchards in the spring of 1888 allows you to follow the complete timeline.
A vertical composition that raises the earth
The trunk leaves near the lower edge, branches off and leads the eye towards the flowers. Yet the tree does not rise into a uniform void. The fence forms an oblique band on the right; the ground, slightly raised, occupies a significant part of the canvas; the whitish clouds repeat the masses of flowers. The entire landscape seems to grow with the peach tree.
The trunk as a hinge
The gray, blue and yellow trunk is not a straight column. It curves, divides and carries a network of black or dark red branches. These lines structure very free flowering. From a distance, they give a readable silhouette; up close, they get lost in the superimposed brushstrokes.
A fence that gives depth
The reed fence does not only serve as a rural setting. Its tight verticals contrast with the branches of the tree, while its oblique flight leads to the bottom. A few low shapes on the left are enough to close the orchard. Depth arises from these changes of rhythm more than from a classic model.
Pink is never a single color
The flowers change from off-white to pink, salmon, orange and red. The blue of the sky makes them brighter by contrast. Van Gogh explains to Willemien that the South requires a richer palette than that of the painters of the North: sky blue, pink, orange, vermilion, brilliant yellow, green and purple. Intensity does not prevent calm; she constructs it through the balance of complements.
This organization by the touch and the colored oppositions is developed in our analysis of van Gogh style. It also brings the painting closer to the others van Gogh flowers, where nature becomes a laboratory of rhythm and color.
Why "Mauve Souvenir"?
Anton Mauve, a painter from the Hague School and cousin by marriage of Van Gogh, had given him lessons in oil painting and watercolor early in his career. Mauve died on February 5, 1888. Van Gogh already knew of his death on March 9, since he then suggested that Theo send a painting to his widow in letter 583. Around March 30, he received from his sister a commemorative text with a portrait of Mauve, as specified in letter 591. This document revives his emotion and encourages him to dedicate the painting he has just brought back; this is not the first announcement of the death.
The news changes the destination of the canvas, not its visual climate. In the letter 591 to Theo, Van Gogh explains that a memory of Mauve must have been "tender and very cheerful", rather than a study in a low tone. He added the inscription and offered to send the painting to Mauve's widow, Jet Mauve-Carbentus, on behalf of both brothers.
A recent study by the Van Gogh Museum specifies that Van Gogh then considered this painting to be his best landscape in Arles. The gesture therefore combines gratitude, artistic ambition and a strategy of visibility among the Dutch community. The painting is shipped in May; Jet Mauve will thank the brothers later this year.
The mistral: real context, exact weather unknown
The title "despite the mistral" sums up the climatic obstacle of the orchard campaign, but it should not be made into a precise weather report. The letters from March attest to changing weather, often windy and cloudy, and Van Gogh regularly mentions the mistral in Arles. On the other hand, no known document proves that it blew exactly during the F394 session on March 30.
Despite everything, the canvas gives an impression of mobility: the clouds advance, the branches unfold in several directions and the touches of the ground are never stored on a smooth surface. The main thing is less to name a particular gust than to understand the urgency: Van Gogh must work outside, quickly, before the wind and the calendar carry away the flowers.
F394 and F404: two pink Peach trees, not two identical copies
| Marker | F394/JH1379 | F404/JH1391 |
|---|---|---|
| Date | Around March 30, 1888. | Rehearsal worked in April 1888. |
| Destination | Offered to Jet Mauve on behalf of Vincent and Theo. | Intended for Theo. |
| Appearance | Pink and orange flowers, inscription at the bottom left. | Whiter and brighter flowering, without dedication to Mauve. |
| Collection | Kroeller-Müller Museum, Otterlo. | Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam. |
La letter 597 is decisive. Van Gogh says that repeating the peach tree gives him a lot of trouble and draws three orchards designed to go together. Critical notes to the letter edition identify the center panel as F404, not F394, since the dedicated original was to leave the brothers' collection.
The orchard triptych: a decoration designed in groups
Van Gogh does not consider each orchard as an isolated image. He imagined groups of three, then a decoration of six and finally nine paintings. In the triptych sketched in Theo, the Pink orchard F555 occupies the left, the Pink peach F404 the center and the White orchard F403 the right. The side formats are horizontal, the center vertical: the contrast of proportions becomes a decorative principle.
F555: The Pink Orchard
Apricot trees in bloom, horizontal format and pale pink tones.
See reproductionF404: The Pink Peach Tree
Vertical repetition designed for Theo and associated with the triptych.
See reproduction
F403: The White Orchard
Plum trees in bloom and purple-green terrain, in horizontal format.
See reproductionThis desire to flatten certain shapes, cut branches from the sky and assemble paintings as decoration owes a lot to Van Gogh's interest in prints. The article Van Gogh and Japan explains how these choices become personal syntax, without transforming Provençal orchards into a literal imitation of Hiroshige.
What Le Pêcher rose brings to Van Gogh's work
F394 brings together three ambitions which will remain central to Arles. The first is to work in series: a pattern is taken up, compared and transformed. The second is decorative: the color should make an interior more intense and more lively. The third is emotional: a landscape can carry a human memory without resorting to portraiture or the traditional funeral symbol.
The painting also nuances the image of an artist painting solely on impulse. Van Gogh observes quickly, but organizes. He chooses the vertical format, stabilizes the tree by the fence and the ground, then modifies the function of the work by an inscription. A few days later, he began a rehearsal and sought to bring the orchards into dialogue with each other.
To situate this stage in your journey, read also Van Gogh in Arles, there van Gogh road in Provence and the general presentation of Vincent van Gogh, his works and his style.
Reproductions linked to the Arles orchards
Frequently asked questions
When did Van Gogh paint The Pink Peach Tree?
Van Gogh painted Pink Peach Trees "Souvenir de Mauve" around March 30, 1888, at the start of his Arles orchard campaign.
Where is Le Pêcher rose F394?
F394 is kept at the Kroeller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, the Netherlands.
What are the dimensions of table F394?
The painting is an oil on canvas measuring 73 × 60 cm.
What are the catalog numbers for Souvenir de Mauve?
The version dedicated to Anton Mauve bears the references F394 in the De la Faille catalog and JH1379 in the Hulsker catalog.
Why did Van Gogh dedicate the painting to Anton Mauve?
Van Gogh already knew of Mauve's death on March 9, 1888. The reception, around March 30, of a commemorative text and a portrait revives his emotion; he then dedicated the peach tree to his former mentor and offered it to his widow, Jet Mauve-Carbentus.
What does the inscription Souvenir de Mauve mean?
The inscription transforms the landscape into a tribute to Anton Mauve; Van Gogh wanted a memory that was both tender and cheerful, not a dark funeral image.
What is the difference between F394 and F404?
F394 is the original dedicated to Mauve and preserved in Otterlo; F404 is a clearer repetition made for Theo and kept at the Van Gogh Museum.
Was the mistral blowing exactly during the session?
Arles' windy and changing weather is documented, but no known source confirms the exact weather during F394's run on March 30.
How many orchards did Van Gogh paint in the spring of 1888?
The Kroeller-Müller Museum indicates that he created fourteen paintings as well as several drawings and sketches of flowering fruit trees.
Was F394 part of the triptych drawn in letter 597?
Critical notes to the letter edition instead identify F404 as the center panel, as F394 was intended to be offered to Jet Mauve.
Main sources
- Kroeller-Müller Museum, Pink Peach trees "Souvenir de Mauve" : date, dimensions, series and dedication.
- Letter 590 to Willemien : description of the orchard and decision to offer the canvas.
- Letter 591 to Theo : tender and cheerful tribute to Mauve.
- Letter 594 to Theo : passion for painting and development of the series.
- Letter 597 to Theo : F404 rehearsal and triptych project.
- Letter 608 to Theo : shipping of the painting intended for Jet Mauve.
- Letter 583 to Theo, March 9, 1888: gift project to Mauve's widow
- Van Gogh Museum, Simply "Vincent", April 2026: dedication and removal of Theo’s name
Continue reading
Van Gogh's orchards · Van Gogh in Arles · Van Gogh Flowers · Van Gogh's style · Van Gogh and Japan · Van Gogh road in Provence
Last editorial and factual verification: September 27, 2026.
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