Vincent van Gogh · Saint-Rémy · 12 -15 May 1890
Road with cypress and star: one last great night in Saint-Rémy
In Road with cypress and star, Van Gogh brings all of Saint-Rémy together in a night vision: the path, the cypress-obelisk, the moon, the star, the travelers and the swirling lines.
Painted just before leaving the asylum, this work is not an exact view of the motif. It is rather a composed landscape: a memory of Provence, a farewell to Saint-Rémy and one of Van Gogh's last great nocturnals.
Reading guide
An analysis of the last Saint-Rémy: night sky, road, cypress, moon, star, travelers and relationship with the other great landscapes of 1889 -1890.
Quick response
Why does this painting matter so much?
Because it condenses the Saint-Rémy period into a single image. The cypress, already central in its research, here becomes a black and green axis between earth and sky. The road opens the start, while the star and the moon place the scene in a cosmic night.
Farewell landscape
The Kroeller-Müller Museum explains that Van Gogh painted this road shortly before leaving the Saint-Rémy asylum. The landscape is not a simple transcription of a specific place: it is composed as a summary of Provençal impressions.
What is striking is the double direction: the road advances horizontally, the cypress rises vertically, and the sky sucks everything towards the movement.
- English title
- Country Road in Provence by Night
- Current title
- Road with Cypress and Star
- Date
- around 12 - May 15, 1890
- Museum
- Kroeller-Müller Museum
Context
The last days of Saint-Rémy
In May 1890, Van Gogh prepared to leave Saint-Paul-de-Mausole. After a year of asylum, he left towards the north, then Auvers-sur-Oise. This painting therefore looks as much towards Provence as towards departure.
A summary of Provence
Van Gogh painted walled gardens, wheat fields, olive trees, cypresses, ravines and nights. In Road with cypress and starseveral of these motifs come together: the road, the tree, the sky, human silhouettes and the Provençal horizon.
May 1889
Entrance to Saint-Paul-de-Mausole, first within the asylum grounds.
1889 - 1890
Cypresses, olive trees, fields, gardens and nocturnals become major motifs.
12 -15 May 1890
The night road is painted just before departure.
Auvers
After Saint-Rémy, Van Gogh joined Auvers-sur-Oise for the last weeks of his life.
Analysis
Six details to look at in the table
The work is held together by a simple tension: a road that leads to the bottom, a cypress that cuts the sky, and stars that transform the landscape into a vision.
The cypress-obelisk
Van Gogh compares cypresses to obelisks. Here the tree rises like a dark flame, between earth and sky.
The double road
The path divides around the cypress. The composition suggests a bifurcation, therefore a choice, a passage, a departure.
Moon and Star
The stars are not decorative: they give the landscape a cosmic, almost spiritual dimension.
Travelers
Small figures make the road human. They accentuate the idea of walking, transit, passage.
The undulating touch
Short, sinuous brushstrokes make the ground, trees and sky vibrate as one material.
The sky divided
To the left and right of the cypress, the sky seems to breathe differently: moon, star and blue masses respond to each other.
Nocturne
After Starry Night, a more earthly night
The night of 1889 was dominated by the sky. That of 1890 descends towards the road: the cosmos remains there, but human walking returns to the fore.
Less storm, more sign
The stars are powerful, but the general movement is less stormy than in Starry Night.
A passing image
The road makes the night part of a journey: we not only contemplate, we move forward.
The symbol of Provence
The tree becomes the great vertical landmark, almost a monument of memory.
Comparisons
Cypress, stars, fields: the works to compare
To understand Road with cypress and starit must be placed among the great motifs of Saint-Rémy: night, cypress, wheat field, pines and asylum garden.
Road with cypress and star
The farewell landscape: path, cypresses, stars and travelers united in a synthetic vision.
Image: The Vincent van Gogh Gallery /public domain.
Starry Night
The sky becomes the absolute protagonist, swirling above the village.
Image: The Vincent van Gogh Gallery /public domain.
Wheat field with cypress
The cypress is already a vertical force, planted between wheat, mountains and sky.
Image: The Vincent van Gogh Gallery /public domain.
Pines and figure
The trees take on an almost human intensity, close to the nocturnal cypress.
Image: The Vincent van Gogh Gallery /public domain.
The Garden of Saint-Paul
The interior motif of the asylum is also loaded with lines, anguish and color.
Image: The Vincent van Gogh Gallery /public domain.Saint-Rémy
A recomposed landscape, not an exact address
The Kroeller-Müller Museum specifies that the painting is not an existing landscape copied as is, but a freely made composition, like a final souvenir of Saint-Rémy.
Why this changes everything
We can look for a road, a cypress, a path to Provence. But the essential is elsewhere: Van Gogh creates a computer-generated image. The road becomes departure, the cypress becomes Provence, the stars become destiny, the figures become human passage.
The painting therefore functions as a condensed memory rather than a topography. It is Saint-Rémy revised one last time by the pictorial imagination.
Reading
Road, cypress, star: three symbols without simplifying
The painting is often read symbolically. This must be done without reducing Van Gogh to a legend: the signs are pictorial as well as personal.
| Element | Visual role | Reading possible |
|---|---|---|
| Road | It crosses and divides space. | Departure, passage, junction, transition to Auvers. |
| Cypress | He cuts the painting vertically. | Symbol of Provence, obelisk tree, earth-sky link. |
| Moon and star | They punctuate the night sky. | Cosmic presence, wakefulness, orientation in the night. |
| Travelers | They give the human scale. | The march, the exile, the shared rather than solitary road. |
Collections to explore
Extend with Van Gogh, Saint-Rémy and the nocturnes
To connect the item to the store: cypresses, nights, Saint-Rémy, Provençal landscapes and large decorative formats.
FAQs
Frequently asked questions
Quick references on the date, museum, title and status of this late night in Saint-Rémy.
When did Van Gogh paint Road with Cypress and Star?
The Kroeller-Müller Museum dates the work around May 12 -15, 1890, just before Van Gogh's departure from Saint-Rémy.
Where's the painting today?
It is kept at the Kroeller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, Netherlands, under the title Country Road in Provence by Night.
Does the landscape represent an exact location?
No, the Kroeller-Müller file indicates that it is not an existing landscape copied directly, but a free composition, probably thought of as a final souvenir of Saint-Rémy.
Why is cypress so important?
Van Gogh sees the cypress as a symbol of Provence and admires its lines, proportions and dark green color. In this painting, it becomes the central axis between road and sky.
Sources
References used
Museum sources and iconographic bases used to verify date, dimensions, collection, title and interpretation.
Kroeller-Müller Museum
Official sheet: date, dimensions, composition, cypress and summary of Saint-Rémy.
PictureWikimedia Commons
Category of the work: title, collection, inventory, dimensions and image files.
CatalogVan Gogh Gallery
Image sheet of Road with Cypress and Star, F683 /JH1982.
CatalogVan Gogh Worldwide
Work reference F683 and cataloging data.
To remember
The night road is a farewell to Saint-Rémy, but not an end.
The painting brings together the signs of Provence - cypress, road, night, sky - as Van Gogh prepares to leave. It is a passing landscape, one last great nocturnal before Auvers.
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