Auvers-sur-Oise June-July 1890 three paintings
The Daubigny Garden
Latest versions and final tribute to an admired painter: Van Gogh transforms a private garden into a panorama of color, then sends Théo a sketch of one of his most thoughtful paintings.
Direct response
Three tables, not a single version
Van Gogh painted Charles-François Daubigny's garden three times during his stay in Auvers-sur-Oise. The first work, F 765, is an almost square study carried out in June 1890 on a piece of checkered canvas - often described as a cloth - because the painter is still waiting for a delivery of canvas. It draws the eye closer to the massifs, paths and vegetation.
In July came two compositions twice as wide as they were tall, F 777 and F 776. Both spread out the garden like a frieze: lawn, roses, round lime trees, pink house with a blue roof, furniture and human presence. The Basel version retains a black cat in the foreground and the title painted at the bottom right. The version of Basel retains a black cat in the foreground and the title painted at the bottom right. The version of Hiroshima, described in the sketch sent to Theo, shows a close but not identical organization; the cat that appeared there was later covered.
These paintings are a late tribute to Daubigny, who died in 1878, but they are not copies. Van Gogh takes his elder's taste for the lived landscape and transforms it with a discontinuous touch, firm contours and a deliberately non-naturalistic color.
F 765 · the study
51 × 51 cm, Van Gogh Museum. An improvised support and a compact composition to understand the place.
F 777 · Basel
54 × 101.5 cm. The panorama with the black cat and the inscription "The garden of Daubigny".
F 776 · Hiroshima
53.2 × 103.5 cm. The version linked to the sketch of the letter of July 23.
An essential predecessor
Why did Charles-François Daubigny mean so much to Van Gogh?
Landscaper from the Barbizon school, Daubigny had chosen Auvers, worked on the banks of the Oise and painted from a workshop boat. For Van Gogh, it represented a tradition of modern landscape already out of the workshop.
Painting outside
Daubigny sailed on the Oise and the Seine aboard his workshop boat, the Botin. This practice of the mobile landscape observed on site announced concerns that Monet, then Van Gogh, would develop differently.
Make the place a memory
Arriving in Auvers, Van Gogh wants to see the house of the missing painter. He meets his widow and quickly projects a more ambitious painting than his first study.
First approach
A square garden painted on a makeshift support
On June 17, Van Gogh explained to Théo that he was waiting for a new canvas. To continue working, he painted this study on a piece of checkered canvas. The improvised support does not prevent an extremely constructed composition: two areas of vegetation frame a central opening, while the house and the sky close the space at the bottom.
The square format creates a feeling of enclosure. The greens do not try to blend: olive green, emerald green, yellow and blue collide. The pink and red flowers serve as punctuation. The pink and red flowers serve as punctuation. The garden is not described plant by plant; it is organized as a decorative surface crossed by rhythms.
This study is the laboratory of July panoramas. Van Gogh already spotted the masses, the passageways and the contrasts there, which he would soon stretch more than a meter wide.
Two large formats, two decisions
Hiroshima's version unfolds the garden like an inhabited scene
The Basel version opens this article. That of Hiroshima allows us to see how Van Gogh takes up the same place without mechanically reproducing the first composition.
The Daubigny Garden, Hiroshima Museum of Art
Oil on canvas, 53.2 × 103.5 cm. The house retreats behind the trees; the furniture and the figure give a domestic scale to the lushness of the garden.
| Element | F 765 · Amsterdam | F 777 · Basel | F 776 · Hiroshima |
|---|---|---|---|
| Format | Almost square, 51 × 51 cm. | Panorama, 54 × 101.5 cm. | Panorama, 53.2 × 103.5 cm. |
| Space effect | Compact enclosure, vegetation in the foreground. | Loose frieze, line of flowers and round lime trees. | Garden more open, diagonal circulation more sensitive. |
| Black cat | Absent. | Visible in the foreground. | Originally present, then covered. |
| Registration | None. | "The Daubigny garden" lower right. | No comparable registration. |
| Role | Study of the place. | First major synthesis. | Version linked to the sketch sent to Théo. |
High definition gallery
See the painting, not just the subject
These close-up photographs show the canvas as it appears at the museum: the thick ridges of color, the changes in brush direction, and the details that disappear in a small reproduction.
File quality: the new study F 765 measures 3,840 × 3,783 px. Photographs of F 777 go up to 5,184 px, which allows the impasto to be truly observed without artificial enlargement. Photographs F 777: Miguel Hermoso Cuesta, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Read the composition
Four forces give the garden its balance
The plant frieze
The rounded lime trees form a series of yellow and green masses. They give an almost musical rhythm to the background of the painting.
The pink house
The light facade is not the main subject: it serves as a stable landmark behind the profusion of branches and flowers.
Signs of life
Bench, chairs, figure and cat prevent the garden from becoming an abstract setting. The place remains inhabited, everyday and intimate.
The color constructed
Pale green sky, bluish roof, purple foliage and pink flowers: Van Gogh describes the place by chromatic ratios, not by local color.
July 23, 1890
The sketch that explains the canvas
Van Gogh attaches to his letter a quick drawing of version F 776. He describes the green and pink grass, the green bush and lilac, the bed of roses, the purple hazel tree, the yellow lime trees, the pink house with the bluish roof, a bench, three chairs, a dark figure with a yellow hat and the black cat in the foreground.
This enumeration shows that range is not a vague effect. Each color is assigned a function in the composition. The design, more elongated than the canvas, simplifies the masses but retains the general architecture of the garden.
"It's one of my most desired paintings."Vincent to Théo, July 23, 1890, letter 902
The garden after painting
The house-workshop still exists in Auvers-sur-Oise
The photographs allow us to compare the real place to pictorial memory. They do not "prove" an exact correspondence plant by plant: gardens and trees change, while Van Gogh simplifies and reorganizes what he sees.
May-july 1890
From visit to sketch: the safest timeline
First days in Auvers
Van Gogh mentions the house in Daubigny, where the painter's widow still lives.
The Square Study
Due to lack of available canvas, he uses a piece of checkered canvas for F 765.
A large painting planned
He writes that he is thinking of transforming the motif into a larger work.
First panorama
He announces to Théo and Jo the painting he has been thinking about since his arrival.
Sketch and description
A new version is drawn and carefully described in a letter to Théo.
The myth of the "last painting"
The Daubigny Garden is a final work, not a final painting
Van Gogh works with exceptional intensity in Auvers. Several July paintings have long been presented as his last painting, but the exact order is not fully documented.
Wheat field with crows
The painting belongs to the same group of large horizontal formats. Its dramatic tension explains its reputation as the "last work", but this identification is not certain.
The Auvers Church
Another village motif where real architecture becomes color, outline and movement.
Say that The Daubigny Garden is a "last tribute" is historically defensible: the subject honors a landscaper whom Van Gogh had long admired, and the F 776 version is still present in a letter dated July 23, a few days before his death on July 29. To say that this is his last brushstroke would, however, be excessive.
Its strength comes precisely from this discrepancy. Instead of a funeral image, Van Gogh chose an inhabited, abundant and luminous garden. Homage to a dead person involves the continuity of painting and the vitality of a transmitted place.
Extend the visit
Explore Van Gogh's landscapes
The gardens of Auvers interact with the fields, houses, trees and views of the village painted during the artist's last seventy days.
Benchmarks checked
Museum sources and correspondence
Van Gogh Letters · letter 889
Letter of June 17, 1890: improvised support for the square study and project for a larger painting.
Read the letter →Van Gogh Letters · letter 898
Around July 10, Van Gogh mentioned the garden he had been thinking about since his arrival in Auvers.
Read the letter →Van Gogh Letters · letter 902
Letter dated July 23, sketch of F 776 and detailed description of the colors, furniture and cat.
See the document →Van Gogh Museum
Notice from F 765 and collector's texts on the first study carried out on a checkered canvas.
See the work →Hiroshima Museum of Art
Official notice of F 776: oil on canvas, 1890, 53.2 × 103.5 cm.
See the collection →National Gallery · Daubigny
References on the landscaper, his installation in Auvers and his direct relationship with Oise.
Discover Daubigny →Frequently asked questions
The Garden of Daubigny in eight answers
How many versions of Daubigny Van Gogh's Garden did he paint?
Three: the square study F 765 in June 1890, then two large panoramic versions F 777 and F 776 in July.
Where are the three paintings located?
F 765 is at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, F 776 at the Hiroshima Museum of Art and F 777 belongs to the Rudolf Staechelin collection, deposited at the Kunstmuseum Basel.
Why was the study painted on a cloth?
Van Gogh was waiting for a canvas delivery. He used a piece of checkered canvas, commonly described as a tea towel or kitchen cloth, so as not to interrupt his work.
Who was Charles-François Daubigny?
A French landscaper from the Barbizon school, born in 1817 and died in 1878. Installed in Auvers, he painted notably along the Oise from his workshop boat.
Why is there a black cat in the painting?
The cat is one of the signs of domestic life in the garden. It remains visible in the Basel version. In the Hiroshima version, it was covered after being painted.
What does "one of my most desired paintings" mean?
In his letter of July 23, Van Gogh underlines the thoughtful and intentional nature of the composition, even if the touch seems quick and spontaneous.
Is the Daubigny Garden Van Gogh's last painting?
No, we can't say for sure. It is one of his last works, but the precise order of the paintings of July 1890 is not entirely established.
Can we visit Daubigny’s house in Auvers?
The Daubigny house-workshop still exists in Auvers-sur-Oise. Visiting conditions may change: check official information before traveling.
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