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Blossoming Chestnut Branches, 1890
Oil on canvas, 73 x 92 cm
De la Faille 820
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Provence, the "French Japan", had not fulfilled van Gogh’s hopes. It brought him disappointment and illness. Beginning in February 1890 he is scheming to return to the more congenial north, well aware that it might be his last stop. His always helpful brother Theo recommends him to Dr. Paul Gachet, the physician and friend of painters at Auvers-sur-Oise. After a brief stay in Paris, he arrives there on May 21. The little village with its low cottages, then still thatched, on the slopes of the valley of the Oise, makes him feel at home. He can resume his painting where Pissarro and Cézanne had worked. Coming from the south, he enjoys the spring a second time. The chestnut trees along the road are blossoming. He paints the old trees with their showy blossoms, and breaks off a few branches in order to paint them along with rhododendron in a vase that is merely hinted at; the heavy tassels lean over, and in formal contrast to the spreading leaves, they crowd the surface of the picture. Japanese influence is evident here too, especially as the artist, eschewing the representational, puts the blossoming twigs on a bluish-green, vibrantly structured background. The painting was given by the artist's family to Dr. Paul Gachet, who took care of van Gogh until the end but could not save him from the fatal last step.
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Provenance, Exhibitions, 
