Van Gogh's orchards
Barely arriving in Provence, Vincent rushes into the flowering orchards. In a few weeks, he painted around fifteen canvases of pink and white peach, plum and almond trees: an explosion of color and cheerfulness, which he contested with a mistral, brush after brush.
Fourteen paintings to celebrate the awakening of nature
In the spring of 1888, Van Gogh painted a series of around fourteen flowering orchards in Arles. It is one of the peaks of cheerfulness of his work: a celebration of renewal, painted to the rhythm of flowering, almost one canvas per day.
These paintings combine three influences: the impressionist touch, the divided colors of the neo-impressionists and, above all, Japanese prints. Vincent sees Arles as "the Japan of the South". The orchards become a motif of light, clear contours and vibrant complements - the image of a personal as well as seasonal rebirth.
Spring tearing it away from winter
On February 20, 1888, Vincent arrived in Arles... in a snowstorm. But in two weeks, the weather turns and the fruit trees are covered with flowers. Apricots, peach trees, plum trees, almond trees: the dazzling is total. He settles down, takes his brushes and attacks a series.
In one month, he painted around fourteen canvases of flowering orchards, or almost one per day. He wrote to Théo that he wanted to "paint a Provençal orchard of astonishing cheerfulness". Far from exhaustion, this frenzy invigorates him: for once, activity carries him instead of emptying him.
"I want to paint a Provençal orchard of astonishing cheerfulness."Vincent to Théo, spring 1888
The "without system" brush for flowering
The mistral complicates everything. The wind blows so hard that Vincent pushes stakes into the ground to attach his easel. But the flowers only last a week: you have to paint quickly, on the pattern, at the risk of seeing everything fly away. Too beautiful, he says, to miss.
His touch is felt, free, almost wild: "I have no system. I strike the canvas with irregular touches that I leave as is. Impasto, places left bare, wild moments." The pink of the petals is placed in thick paste - to the point that Théo will have to, he says, "shave" a little.
Curiosity: the bright pink of Pink peach has faded over time and now appears almost white. Light had its reasons that chemistry lost.
The pink triptych of orchards
Vincent dreamed of hanging several of his orchards together. Only one triptych is documented: the Pink orchard, the Pink peach (center, vertical) and the White orchard. He sketches it for Theo's apartment, and his sister-in-law Johanna will arrange it according to this sketch.
The Pink Orchard
Tuft of impasto for flowers; field left empty at the bottom to dig the distance.
The Pink Peach Tree
Dedicated to "Souvenir de Mauve", his former master. The pink turned pale in whiteness.
The White Orchard
Yellow-white prunus "with a thousand black branches"; the wind makes the flowers "sparkle".
At White orchard, Vincent says he painted in a sudden burst, between two clearings: "All the little white flowers sparkled. It was so beautiful." His friend the Dane - the painter Mourier-Petersen - came to join him at the time.
Japanese printmaking in the heart of orchards
For Vincent, Arles is "the Japan of the South". The light of the South simplifies the shapes, clears the contours: exactly what he likes in Japanese prints. In the orchards, he adopts high points of view, trunks surrounded by black, flat bottoms - so many tributes to Hiroshige and Hokusai.
The Pear tree in bloom, which he chose as the center of a second group, accumulates these debts: raised viewpoint, trunk with strong contours, and even a large yellow butterfly placed among the flowers. "All my work", he writes, "is based in part on Japanese art." "
"All my work is based, in some way, on Japanese art."Vincent to Theo
The tree that blooms after winter
For Vincent, the flowering tree is not a simple spring motif. It is the symbol of renewal: the promise that life returns, that a difficult existence can, one day, "flower". As early as 1883, he compared hatching to "the man who finally produces something poignant, like the flower of a hard and difficult life".
This thread continued until 1890: in Saint-Rémy, for the birth of his nephew, he painted Almond tree in bloom - the early flowering tree, quintessential symbol of a birth.
Four paintings from spring 1888
The series, day after day
Vincent arrives in a snowstorm.
Fruit trees bloom within a few days.
Productive frenzy: almost one canvas per day.
"The orchards have almost finished flowering": he changes the subject.
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See the collectionVan Gogh's orchards
When did Van Gogh paint the orchard series?
In the spring of 1888, in Arles, just after his arrival in Provence: from the beginning of March to around mid-April.
How many paintings make up the series?
About fifteen flowering orchard canvases, painted at a rate of about one per day.
Why this frenzy?
The flowers of fruit trees only last a week. Vincent paints on the pattern, as quickly as possible, to capture the ephemeral - even if it means fighting against the mistral.
What is the "pink triptych"?
A grouping of three paintings planned by Vincent: the Pink orchard, the Pink peach (center) and the White orchard. His sister-in-law Johanna hung them according to her sketch.
Why does the Pink Peach tree look so pale today?
The original bright pink has faded over time, driven by light and pigment chemistry. Today it appears almost white.
What influences do we see in these paintings?
Three: the impressionist touch, the divided colors of the neo-impressionists and, above all, Japanese prints. Vincent saw Arles as "the Japan of the South".
Where to see these tables?
In several museums: Van Gogh Museum (Amsterdam), Kroeller-Müller Museum (Otterlo), and various museums according to the paintings.
Go to texts
- Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam - collection.
- The Letters of Vincent van Gogh - Van Gogh Museum scholarly edition /Huygens ING.
- Wikipedia (en) - Flowering Orchards, spring 1888 series in Arles.
- Wikipedia (en) - Almond Blossoms, 1890 Legacy.
- The Letters of Vincent van Gogh, Van Gogh Museum edition /Huygens ING.
- Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, collection.
- Wikimedia Commons - Orchard in bloom with a view of Arles, public domain.
- Wikimedia Commons - The Pink Peach Tree (Memory of Mauve), public domain.
Vincent van Gogh's works are in the public domain. Short quotes are taken from his letters (Van Gogh Museum edition). Reproductions come from Wikimedia Commons (public domain).
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