In spring 1889, Vincent van Gogh leaves the bustling streets of Arles to voluntarily settle in the asylum of Saint-Paul-de-Mausole, in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. This peaceful place, surrounded by cypress trees, olive trees, and fields bathed in light, becomes for him both a refuge and a theater of inspiration.
For a year, the artist creates more than 150 paintings there, among the most moving of his career. Between inner suffering and wonder at the Provençal nature, Van Gogh transforms his psychic torments into a burst of swirling forms, vibrant colors, and powerful compositions.
The period in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence marks a decisive step in his work: the one where painting becomes an outlet, a form of healing, an intimate dialogue between man and landscape.
It is here that The Starry Night, The Irises, Wheat Field with Cypresses and many other masterpieces are born, all imbued with a rare emotional intensity.
Through this journey in the South, Van Gogh offers a transcended vision of nature, both spiritual and visceral.
In this blog, we invite you to explore this unique artistic interlude, where the light of the South meets the depth of the soul.
🟢 Provence as therapy: between isolation and inspiration
In May 1889, exhausted by a series of psychic crises and profound emotional instability, Vincent van Gogh makes a radical decision: to isolate himself from the world by entering the asylum of Saint-Paul-de-Mausole in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. This choice is not imposed but voluntary. The artist primarily seeks a peaceful setting, away from the tumult, where he can regain a fragile balance and continue to paint.
The monastery transformed into a health home is surrounded by a landscape of striking beauty: enclosed gardens, olive fields, tall cypress trees, hills bathed in light. This environment becomes for Van Gogh an inexhaustible source of inspiration. Despite his inner suffering, he finds a powerful connection with nature, a silence conducive to introspection, and an ideal atmosphere for creation.
In Saint-Rémy, his routine is strict but precious: as soon as he can, he paints. He observes the surroundings from the window of his room or goes out, accompanied, into the gardens of the asylum to capture the variations of light and shapes. The Provençal natural setting, with its vibrant clarity and lively landscapes, becomes a mirror in which Van Gogh projects his deepest emotions.
This stay marks a break in his way of creating: the colors become more vibrant, the forms more expressive, the compositions more inhabited. Provence acts as a luminous balm on his invisible wounds.
🔵 A style in transformation: painting as an outlet
In Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Van Gogh's painting undergoes a profound metamorphosis. More than just a simple aesthetic change, it is an inner transformation that is reflected in every canvas. The gesture becomes more instinctive, the color bolder, the composition more tormented. It is here that Van Gogh crosses the boundary between post-impressionism and what will later be called expressionism.
His paintings created at the asylum of Saint-Paul-de-Mausole testify to a visceral art, where each brushstroke seems to translate a raw emotion. The troubled skies, the serpentine-shaped trees, the fields agitated by the wind are all metaphors for his inner turmoil.
The Provençal light plays a central role: it illuminates the forms but does not soften them. It reveals the material, accentuates the contrasts, amplifies the rhythm of the composition. The burning yellows, intense blues, and deep greens become the vectors of a new expressiveness. The pictorial material, dense and swirling, seems animated by its own life.
In this isolation filled with silence and light, Van Gogh transforms his malaise into art. His painting is no longer just observation: it becomes an outlet, a prayer, a silent scream. It is in Saint-Rémy that his style reaches unprecedented emotional power, combining the beauty of nature and the intensity of the soul.
🌌 Spotlight on 5 must-see works from Saint-Rémy-de-Provence
During his year in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Vincent van Gogh created some of his most famous paintings. These works, born in the silence of the asylum and under the vibrant light of the South, capture the soul of Provence while reflecting the artist's inner storms. Here are five emblematic masterpieces from this period of intense creation:
🌠 The Starry Night (1889)
Painted from the window of his room at the asylum, The Starry Night is undoubtedly Van Gogh's most famous work. Celestial whirlwinds, a shining moon, black cypress trees standing like flames: everything is movement, energy, emotion.
This painting transcends reality: it does not describe a night, it evokes the soul. Behind this almost cosmic vision, one senses a quest for peace, a search for meaning in the infinity of the sky.
🌸 The Irises (1889)
In the enclosed garden of the asylum, Van Gogh discovers the blooming irises. He creates a canvas of striking beauty, where each petal seems to breathe. The tones of blue, purple, and green converse in a soothing harmony.
Far from the tumult, The Irises embody a suspended moment, a floral expression of serenity and hope. It is one of the few works where a form of softness emerges.
🌾 Wheat Field with Cypresses (1889)
This iconic painting condenses the dramatic intensity of the Provençal landscapes. Under a tumultuous sky, the wheat sways in vibrant spirals, dominated by the fierce verticality of the cypress trees.
The composition expresses the tension between nature and spirit, between life in motion and human anxiety. Van Gogh achieves a rare symbolic power here.
🌳 The Olives (1889)
The artist dedicates several canvases to the olive trees, millennial trees that he perceives as almost mystical beings. Their gnarled trunks, their silver foliage, their anchoring in the earth evoke resilience, wisdom, and timelessness.
Through these canvases, Van Gogh explores the changing light, the natural rhythms, and the spirituality of the Provençal landscapes.
🌿 The light of Provence: revealing the soul
In Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, light is not just a natural phenomenon: it becomes a presence, a living force, almost spiritual. For Vincent van Gogh, this clarity of the South, warm and vibrant, transforms his way of painting and intensifies his connection to the world.
Under the Provençal sky, the colors explode. The yellows become solar, the deep blues, the intense greens. This light amplifies the contrasts, reveals the shapes, gives relief to the material. Van Gogh does not simply represent what he sees: he captures the energy of the landscape, the vibration of the real.
Each canvas becomes a sensory experience. The wheat fields glow like oceans of gold, the black cypress trees rise in flames, the mountains stand out against a moving sky. The light, omnipresent, transcends nature to reveal its soul.
It is no coincidence that the works from this period are among the most expressive of his career. The Provençal light allows Van Gogh to powerfully translate what he feels: hope, melancholy, wonder, anxiety. Through it, he gives form to his deepest emotions, with a heartbreaking sincerity.
In the paintings created in Saint-Rémy, Provence is no longer just a backdrop: it becomes the reflection of a man in search of inner light.
🖼️ The artistic legacy of Saint-Rémy: a unique work
The period that Vincent van Gogh spends in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence remains one of the most fruitful, but also one of the most poignant of his artistic journey. In just twelve months, the artist produces nearly 150 canvases, several of which are now considered absolute masterpieces in the history of painting.
What distinguishes this period is not only the quantity of works produced, but especially their emotional depth and their expressive power. Each painting from Saint-Rémy seems to be permeated by a unique tension: that between the artist's inner suffering and the peaceful beauty of the Provençal nature.
Van Gogh's style reaches a new intensity here. The forms become freer, the colors bolder, the compositions more dynamic. He no longer seeks to faithfully represent reality, but to make it felt, to convey a more intimate, more human truth.
It is during this phase that Van Gogh comes closest to expressionism, long before this movement is recognized. He paves the way for a new way of painting: a painting of raw emotion, of the world seen from within.
Today, the works from Saint-Rémy-de-Provence are preserved in the greatest museums in the world: the MoMA in New York (The Starry Night), the Orsay Museum in Paris, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam… Proof that this period, born in the silence of an asylum, has managed to transcend the centuries to touch hearts.
🎨 Oil reproductions: bringing Saint-Rémy into your home
Admiring a work by Van Gogh painted in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence is to feel the full power of a connection between art and nature, between the light of the South and the intensity of the human soul. At Alpha Reproduction, we allow you to bring this emotion into your daily life through our hand-painted reproductions, faithful to the masterpieces created by the artist during this unforgettable period.
Each painting is reproduced in oil on canvas, according to the traditional techniques of the Impressionist masters. Our copyist artists strive to reproduce the texture, the energy of the brush, the depth of colors, and the vibrancy of light as Van Gogh conceived them in Saint-Rémy.
Our reproductions are:
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Completely hand-painted, without printing or digital process,
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Customizable in sizes, to fit all spaces,
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Available with high-end frames for an elegant display,
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Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity, guaranteeing the exclusivity of the handcrafted work.
Bringing into your home The Starry Night, The Irises, or a Wheat Field with Cypresses is to appropriate a fragment of pure beauty, born from the light of Provence and the soul of a genius.
🌞 Why choose a reproduction from Saint-Rémy-de-Provence
Acquiring a reproduction of a painting by Vincent van Gogh painted in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence is much more than a decorative gesture: it is an invitation to live with the emotion, light, and depth of a unique period in the history of art.
The works created at the asylum of Saint-Paul-de-Mausole carry a rare expressive force, blending the artist's torments with the vibrant beauty of nature. They illuminate the space, engage the soul, and create an atmosphere that is both soothing and lively.
By choosing a hand-painted reproduction from this period, you :
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Bring the light of the South into your home, with its sunny yellows and deep blues,
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Add a strong emotional dimension to your decor, inspired by Van Gogh's inner quest,
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Own a work that carries meaning, of hope and raw beauty,
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Support traditional craftsmanship, through paintings made by hand in respect of ancient techniques,
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Recreate the solar intensity of Provence, as Van Gogh felt and sublimated it.
Whether you are drawn to the mystical energy of The Starry Night, the poetic freshness of The Irises, or the meditative strength of The Olive Trees, a reproduction from this period will allow you to radiate a timeless work, filled with soul and light, in your home.
🌟 Conclusion: Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, land of eternal inspiration
In Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Vincent van Gogh found much more than a place of rest: he discovered a world bathed in light, a haven of raw nature, a silent space where art could become healing.
In the solitude of the asylum and the untouched beauty of Provence, he painted with urgency, with sincerity, with an intensity that still transcends time. The Starry Night, The Irises, The Olive Trees, The Wheat Fields… so many works that testify to a deeply human gaze, sensitive to every vibration of the world.
These paintings, born from pain but bathed in hope, continue today to move, inspire, and soothe.
At Alpha Reproduction, we are proud to revive this luminous period through our hand-painted reproductions, faithful to the soul and material of the originals.
➔ Bring into your home a work born from Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. Let the light of the South and the emotion of Van Gogh illuminate your walls – and perhaps a little more.
❓ FAQ – Vincent van Gogh in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence
🌻 Why did Vincent van Gogh go to Saint-Rémy-de-Provence?
In May 1889, Vincent van Gogh decided to voluntarily admit himself to the asylum of Saint-Paul-de-Mausole in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. Fragile due to mental health issues, he sought a calm environment to heal and continue painting in serene conditions. The beauty of the Provençal landscapes and the light of the South quickly became major sources of inspiration.
🌻 What famous works did Van Gogh paint in Saint-Rémy?
Van Gogh created more than 150 works there in one year, including some of the most emblematic:
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The Starry Night
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The Irises
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Wheat field with cypress
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The Olives
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Several views of Saint-Rémy and the mountains
These paintings are marked by great expressiveness and a unique luminous intensity.
🌻 Where can we see today the works of Van Gogh created in Saint-Rémy?
The works painted in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence are now preserved in several major international museums:
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Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York (The Starry Night)
Some canvases also belong to private collections.
🌻 Can we buy a faithful reproduction of these paintings?
Yes. At Alpha Reproduction, we offer reproductions:
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Hand-painted in oil on canvas
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Customizable in formats and frames
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Faithful to the original works of Van Gogh
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Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity
➔ Discover our collection dedicated to Saint-Rémy-de-Provence and bring the vibrant soul of the South into your home.
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