''Flowering Orchards'' is a series of paintings which Dutch artist

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks ...

executed in

Arles Arles ( , , ; ; Classical ) is a coastal city and Communes of France, commune in the South of France, a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône Departments of France, department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Reg ...

, in

southern France Southern France, also known as the south of France or colloquially in French as , is a geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', Atlas e ...

in the spring of 1888. Van Gogh arrived in Arles in February 1888 in a snowstorm; within two weeks the weather changed and the fruit trees were in blossom. Appreciating the symbolism of rebirth, Van Gogh worked with optimism and zeal on about fourteen paintings of flowering trees in the early spring. He also made paintings of flowering trees in Saint-Rémy the following year, in 1889. Flowering trees were special to Van Gogh; they represented awakening and hope. He enjoyed them aesthetically and found joy in painting flowering trees. The 'trees and orchards in bloom' paintings that he made reflect

Impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

, Divisionist and Japanese

woodcut Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that ...

influences.

Flowering trees and orchards

When Van Gogh arrived in Arles in February 1888, the area's

fruit tree A fruit tree is a tree which bears fruit that is consumed or used by animals and humans. All trees that are flowering plants produce fruit, which are the ripened ovaries of flowers containing one or more seeds. In horticultural usage, the te ...

s in the orchards were about to bloom. The blossoms of the apricot, peach and plum trees motivated him, and within a month he had created fourteen paintings of blossoming fruit trees. Excited by the subject matter, he completed nearly one painting a day. Around April 21 Van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo, that he "will have to seek something new, now the orchards have almost finished blossoming." Flowering trees represented a source of spiritual renewal for Van Gogh; in 1883 he had written of the symbolism of the flowering tree, seeing the evidence of rebirth like the "man who finally produces something poignant as the blossom of a hard, difficult life, is a wonder, like the black hawthorn, or better still the gnarled old apple tree which at certain moments bears blossoms which are among the most delicate and virginal things under the sun." In 1888 Van Gogh became inspired in southern France and began the most productive period of his painting career. He sought the brilliance and light of the sun which would obscure the detail, simplifying the subjects. It also would make the lines of composition clearer; which would suit his ambition to create the simple patterns that he appreciated in Japanese woodblocks.

, he said, was "the Japan of the South." Van Gogh found in the south that colors were more vivid. Pairs of complementary colors, such as "the red and green of the plants, the woven highlights of oranges and blue in the fence, even the pink clouds that enliven the turquoise sky" — create an intensity through their pairing. Mancoff says of flowering trees and this work,

"In his flowering trees, Vincent attained a sense of spontaneity, freeing himself from the strict self-analytical approach he took in Paris. In ''Almond Tree in Blossom,'' Vincent used the light, broken strokes of
impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...
and the dabs of colour of
divisionism Divisionism, also called chromoluminarism, is the characteristic style in Neo-Impressionist painting defined by the separation of colors into individual dots or patches that interact optically..Homer, William I. ''Seurat and the Science of Pain ...
for a sparkling surface effect. The distinctive contours of the tree and its position in the foreground recall the formal qualities of Japanese prints."

The southern region and the flowering trees seems to have awakened Van Gogh from his doldrums into a state of clear direction, hyper-activity and good cheer. He wrote, "I am up to my ears in work for the trees are in blossom and I want to paint a Provençal orchard of astonishing gaiety." While in the past a very active period would have drained him, this time he was invigorated. To paint the flowering orchards, Van Gogh contended with the

winds Wind is the natural movement of atmosphere of Earth, air or other gases relative to a planetary surface, planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heatin ...

which were so strong that he drove pegs into the ground to which he fastened his easel. Even so, he found painting the orchards "too lovely" to miss.

Flowering orchard triptych

Van Gogh may have envisioned several

triptych A triptych ( ) is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided into three sections, or three carved panels that are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all m ...

s of his paintings of orchards and flowering trees. However, only one triptych grouping has been documented, one which Vincent envisioned and sketched for Theo's apartment.

Johanna van Gogh-Bonger Johanna Gezina van Gogh-Bonger (4 October 1862 – 2 September 1925) was a Dutch editor who translated the hundreds of letters of her first husband, art dealer Theo van Gogh (art dealer), Theo van Gogh, and his brother, Vincent van Gogh. Van ...

displayed them in the apartment according to Van Gogh's sketch, the vertical ''Pink Peach Tree'' between the ''Pink Orchard'' and the ''White Orchard''.

''Pink Orchard''

In Paris, Van Gogh had learned to paint more than what one sees, but what it should be. He felt ''Pink Orchard'' was an example of wise use of that technique, such as leaving a field blank behind the orchard to create the feeling of distance. The way in which he outlined the bark of the tree indicates influence of the Japanese prints that he greatly admired. Using an

technique of placing colors side by side, Van Gogh makes short dots or brush strokes of colors to represent grass. On the top of the tree he uses rougher, more

impasto Impasto is a technique used in painting, where paint is laid on an area of the surface thickly, usually thick enough that the brush or painting-knife strokes are visible. Paint can also be mixed right on the canvas. When dry, impasto provides tex ...

brushstrokes to represent the colorful blossoms. Vincent asked Theo to "shave off" some of the impasto in this painting. Apparently he did not reline, a process of heavy pressure and heat to flatten the surface, because sharp edges of thick impasto remain on the canvas.

''Pink Peach Tree''

In the ''Pink Peach Tree'', center of the triptych, the bright pink in the painting has faded over time and looks more white than pink now. Van Gogh wrote of his approach, perhaps due to the challenges of painting in the mistral winds, and use of color in painting the flowering tree like the ''Pink Peach Tree'':

"At the moment I am absorbed in the blooming fruit trees, pink peach trees, yellow-white pear trees. My brush stroke has no system at all. I hit the canvas with irregular touches of the brush, which I leave as they are. Patches of thickly laid-on color, spots of canvas left uncovered, here and there portions that are absolutely unfinished, repetitions, savageries… Working direct on the spot all the time, I try to grasp what is essential in the drawings -- later I fill in the spaces which are bounded by contours — either expressed or not, but in any case felt — with tones which are also simplified, by which I mean that all that is going to be soil will have the same violet-like tone, that the whole sky will have a blue tint, that the green vegetation will be either green-blue or green-yellow, purposefully exaggerating the yellows and blues in this case."

''White Orchard''

Continuing on with his paintings of orchards, Van Gogh wrote, "At the moment I am working on some plum trees, yellowish-white, with thousands of black branches." Two days later he wrote of the same painting, "This morning I worked on an orchard of plum trees in bloom; all at once a fierce wind sprang up, an effect I had seen nowhere else but here, and returned at intervals. The sun shone in between, and all the little white flowers sparkled. It was so lovely. My friend the Dane came to join me, and I went on painting at the risk and peril of seeing the whole show on the ground at any moment - it's a white effect with a good deal of yellow in it, and blue and lilac, the sky white and blue." File:Vincent van Gogh - De roze boomgaard - Google Art Project.jpg, ''The Pink Orchard'' also ''Orchard with Blossoming Apricot Trees''
March 1888

Van Gogh Museum The Van Gogh Museum () is a Dutch art museum dedicated to the works of Vincent van Gogh and his contemporaries in the Museum Square in Amsterdam South, close to the Stedelijk Museum, the Rijksmuseum, and the Concertgebouw. The museum opened o ...

, Amsterdam (F555) File:Vincent van Gogh - De roze perzikboom - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Peach Tree in Blossom''
March–April 1888

, Amsterdam (F404) File:Vincent van Gogh - The white orchard - Google Art Project.jpg, ''The White Orchard''
April 1888

, Amsterdam (F403)

Center piece for a second triptych: ''Blossoming Pear Tree''

WLANL - artanonymous - Bloeiend perenboompje

Van Gogh chose ''Blossoming Pear Tree'' as the center piece of a grouping, However, there is no information linking this painting to any others. The

described Van Gogh's approach and technique when he made ''Blossoming Pear Tree'':

He chose a high vantage point, creating a contrast between the angular trunk and branches with their dark, heavy contours and the light background. A stone wall and a few trees can be seen to the rear, while to the left is a fence in front of a garden near a pink-yellow house. The large, flat yellow butterfly among the flowers to the right of the trunk is also noteworthy. The decorative painting, with the small tree in the foreground, the high vantage point and the lack of depth, is strongly influenced by the art of the Japanese printmakers, which Van Gogh admired enormously.

It is difficult to overstate the impact that Japanese art had on Van Gogh. In a letter to Theo, he said, "All my work is in a way founded on Japanese art, and we do not know enough about Japanese prints. In decadence in its own country, pigeonholed in collections already impossible to find in Japan itself, Japanese art is taking root again among French Impressionist artists."

Specific trees

''Almond Tree in Blossom''

Van Gogh writes of the weather and that the almond trees are coming into full flower, "The weather here is changeable, often windy with turbulent skies, but the almond trees are beginning to flower everywhere." The rendering of ''Almond Tree in Blossom'' is positioned close and accessible to the viewer, and the branches appear to extend beyond the painting's frame. A yellow butterfly flits among the pink blossoms growing on the red branches. The subject is reminiscent of an earlier painting which Van Gogh made in Paris depicting flowering trees. ''Apricot Trees in Blossom'' was made in April 1888. It is now held in a private collection. File:Bloeiende perzikboom - s0035V1962 - Van Gogh Museum.jpg, ''Almond Tree in Bloom''
1888

, Amsterdam (F557) Image:Van Gogh - Blühender Obstgarten mit Aprikosenbäumen1.jpeg, ''Apricot Trees in Blossom''
April 1888
Private collection (F556) Image:Vincent van Gogh - Apricot Trees in Blossom (1888, Johannesburg).jpg, ''Apricot Trees in Blossom''
1888
Collection Continental Art Holdings, Ltd., Johannesburg (F399)

Peach trees

In addition to '' Pink Peach Tree'' (F404) in the triptych, Van Gogh painted two other paintings of peach trees and a watercolor.

''Orchard with Peach Trees in Blossom''

The Van Gogh Museum's version of ''Orchard with Peach Trees in Blossom'' was painted in April. This may be the painting that Van Gogh referred to as one with a great deal of

stippling Stippling is the creation of a pattern simulating varying Grayscale, degrees of solidity or shading by using small dots. Such a pattern may occur in nature and these effects are frequently emulated by artists. Art In printmaking, stipple ...

that depicts an orchard surrounded by cypress trees. If so, Van Gogh intended it to be paired with another painting of the same size.

''Pink Peach Tree, Souvenir to Mauve''

Van Gogh wrote of ''Pink Peach Tree in Blossom (Souvenir de Mauve)'' that he completed in March, "I have been working on a size 20 canvas in the open air in an orchard, lilac ploughland, a reed fence, two pink peach trees against a sky of glorious blue and white. Probably the best landscape I have done. I had just brought it home when I received from our sister a Dutch notice in memory of Anton Mauve, with his portrait (the portrait, very good), the text, poor and nothing in it a pretty water color. Something - I don't know what - took hold of me and brought a lump to my throat, and I wrote on my picture, 'Souvenir de Mauve'." Van Gogh knew Anton Mauve during his stay in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

. Mauve had taken an interest in Van Gogh and encouraged him to work in color. Van Gogh asked that ''Pink Peach Tree'' be sent to Mauve's widow Jet. To his sister Wil, Van Gogh explained that he chose the particular painting because of the "delicate palette" to express his deep fondness. "It seemed to me that everything in memory of Mauve must be at once tender and very gay, and not a study in a graver key."

Watercolor of ''Pink Peach Trees''

Image:Vincent van Gogh - De roze perzikboom - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Pink Peach Tree in Blossom (Reminiscence of Mauve)''
March 1888
Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo (F404) File:Van Gogh - Blühender Obstgarten mit Pfirsichbäumen.jpeg, ''Orchard with Peach Trees in Blossom''
April, 1888
Private collection (F551) File:Pink Peach Trees.jpg, ''Pink Peach Trees'', watercolor
April 1888

, Amsterdam (F1469)

''Orchard in Blossom (Plum Trees)''

The

National Gallery of Scotland The National (formerly the Scottish National Gallery) is the national art gallery of Scotland. It is located on The Mound in central Edinburgh, close to Princes Street. The building was designed in a neoclassical style by William Henry Playfa ...

described ''Orchard in Blossom (Plum Trees)'':

The structure of the branches of the plum trees is still clearly visible through the blossom and his brushstrokes follow the direction of the vertical tree trunks.

The presence of the glittery white blossoms and absence of leaves indicate that Van Gogh made this painting shortly after the tree flowered. The painting reflects

influences in the use of short brush strokes and projection of light. File:Vincent van Gogh - Orchard in Blossom (Plum Trees) - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Orchard in Blossom (Plum Trees)''April 1888

(F553) File:Vincent van Gogh - De roze boomgaard - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Flowering Orchard'', 1888,

''Orchard in Blossom, Bordered by Cypresses''

To his friend Émile Bernard, Van Gogh wrote of his enthusiasm of painting orchards, "At the moment I am absorbed in the blooming fruit trees, pink peach trees, yellow-white pear trees. My brush stroke has no system at all. I hit the canvas with irregular touches of the brush, which I leave as they are. Patches of thickly laid-on colour, spots of canvas left uncovered, here or there portions that are left absolutely unfinished, repetitions, savageries; in short, I am inclined to think that the result is so disquieting and irritating as to be a godsend to those people who have preconceived ideas about technique." In the same letter he made a sketch of ''Orchard in Bloom, Bordered by Cypresses'', "the entrance to a Provençal orchard with its yellow fences, its enclosure of black cypresses (against the mistral), its characteristic vegetables of varying greens: yellow lettuces, onions, garlic, emerald leeks." File:Van Gogh - Blühender Obstgarten, von Zypressen umgeben.jpeg, ''Orchard in Blossom, Bordered by Cypresses''
April, 1888
Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo (F513) File:Van Gogh - Blühender Obstgarten von Zypressen umgeben1.jpeg, ''Orchard in Blossom, Bordered by Cypresses''
April, 1888
Private Collection, promised to Yale University Art Gallery (F554)

Other flowering orchard paintings

''Orchard in Blossom'' (F406)

''Orchard in Blossom'' (F406) was painted for Theo for

May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the Northern Hemisphere's March equinox, spring equinox and midsummer June solstice, solstice. Festivities ma ...

with "a frenzy of

s of the faintest yellow and lilac on the original white mass." To his friend Émile Bernard he provided more detail: "Here is another orchard, rather simple as a composition: a white tree, a small green tree, a square patch of green, lilac soil, an orange roof, a large blue sky."

''Orchard in Blossom'' (F511)

The Van Gogh Museum's version of ''Orchard in Blossom'' was painted in April. Vincent asked Theo to "shave off" some of the

in this painting. Apparently he did not reline, a process of heavy pressure and heat to flatten the surface, because sharp edges of thick impasto remain on the painting.

''View of Arles, Flowering Orchards''

Van Gogh painted ''View of Arles, Flowering Orchards'' in spring 1889. It provides a view across a canal, with poplar trees along its banks, toward the historical center of Arles, with the towers of Saint-Trophime and Notre-Dame-le-major to the left, contrasted by recent building of the casern housing the

Zouave The Zouaves () were a class of light infantry regiments of the French Army and other units modelled on it, which served between 1830 and 1962, and served in French North Africa. The zouaves were among the most decorated units of the French Army ...

Regiment to the right. Van Gogh incorporated this painting in his

selection Selection may refer to: Science * Selection (biology), also called natural selection, selection in evolution ** Sex selection, in genetics ** Mate selection, in mating ** Sexual selection in humans, in human sexuality ** Human mating strat ...

of works to be displayed at

Les XX ''Les XX'' ( French; "''Les Vingt''"; ; ) was a group of twenty Belgian painters, designers and sculptors, formed in 1883 by the Brussels lawyer, publisher, and entrepreneur Octave Maus. For ten years, they held an annual exhibition of their a ...

, in Brussels 1890.

''Flowering Orchard''

The Metropolitan Museum of Art notes that ''Flowering Orchard'' is one of only two orchard paintings from Van Gogh's orchard series that alludes to human labor, in this instance by including a scythe and a rake. Japanese influence is understood from Van Gogh's stylized treatment and motif. The painting is also known as ''Orchard in Blossom'', another English translation of its French title.

''View of Arles with Trees in Blossom''

Most of these paintings were done in April 1888, or in April 1889. Image:Van Gogh - Blühender Obstgarten2.jpeg, ''Orchard in Blossom''
April 1888
Private collection (F406) File:Bloeiende boomgaard - s0038V1962 - Van Gogh Museum.jpg, ''Orchard in Blossom''
April 1888

, Amsterdam (F511) File:Vincent van Gogh - Perzikbomen in bloei.jpg, '' Peach Trees in Blossom''
April 1888

Courtauld Gallery The Courtauld Gallery () is an art museum in Somerset House, on the Strand, London, Strand in central London. It houses the collection of the Samuel Courtauld Trust and operates as an integral part of the Courtauld Institute of Art. The Court ...

, London (F514) File:Vincent van Gogh - Bloeiende boomgaarden, gezicht op Arles - Google Art Project.jpg, ''View of Arles with Trees in Blossom (Orchard in Bloom with View of Arles)''
(April 1889)

, Amsterdam (F515) File:Van Gogh - Blühender Obstgarten mit Blick auf Arles.jpeg, '' View of Arles (Flowering Orchards),''
April 1889
Neue Pinakothek, Munich (F516) Image:Vincent Van Gogh 0021.jpg, ''Flowering Orchard''
(1888)

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

, New York (F552)

References

{{Vincent van Gogh Paintings of Arles by Vincent van Gogh Series of paintings by Vincent van Gogh 1888 paintings 1889 paintings 1880s paintings Collection of the Kröller-Müller Museum Collection of the Van Gogh Museum Oil on canvas paintings