1889
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
The Large Plane Trees (Road Menders at Saint-Rémy) is a 1889 unspecified by Vincent van Gogh, a Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
This painting shows workers repairing a road lined with tall, bare plane trees in Saint-Rémy. The colors are mostly greens and browns, with thick paint that stands up off the canvas. You can almost feel the cool autumn air in the scene. Van Gogh made this while staying at a hospital nearby. His doctor let him paint outside because it helped him feel better. The trees twist up like they’re dancing, even though the workers look tired. Look up Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853–1890) to see more of his bold, swirly style.
Like Two Poplars in the Alpilles near Saint-Rémy (on view nearby), Vincent van Gogh painted this autumnal landscape while living in a psychiatric hospital near Saint-Rémy in southern France where he was treated for severe depression. Understanding that painting from nature eased his symptoms, Van Gogh’s physician permitted the artist to paint landscapes outside. Van Gogh described this painting in a letter to his brother Theo: “The last study I did is a view of the village, where they were at work under some enormous plane trees—repairing the pavements. . . . There are heaps of sand, stones,…
Van Gogh sometimes created what he called "repetitions," in which he painted the same subject and composition again. This painting has a repetition, currently in the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC. Conservation research has shown that the Cleveland painting is the first version.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Vincent Willem van Gogh was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art.
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