The Mango Trees, Martinique by Paul Gauguin - 1887 - 86 cm x 116 cm Van Gogh Museum The Mango Trees, Martinique by Paul Gauguin - 1887 - 86 cm x 116 cm Van Gogh Museum

The Mango Trees, Martinique

oil on panel • 86 cm x 116 cm
  • Paul Gauguin - June 7, 1848 - May 8, 1903 Paul Gauguin 1887

This work is on display in the exhibition Gauguin & Laval in Martinique, from 5 October 2018 to 13 January 2019 at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam (and we highly encourage you to visit it:)

Discontent with what they considered to be the decadent Parisian way of life, Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) and Charles Laval (1861-1894) travelled to the French island of Martinique. In the short time that they stayed on the ‘exotic’ Caribbean island, they created a series of exquisite artworks. The trip had a huge impact on their further artistic development.

Gauguin & Laval in Martinique features a wide selection of the warm, colourful paintings created by Gauguin and Laval on the island, together with their preparatory studies and large, elaborate pastels. This is the first time that so many works from their Martinican period are being displayed together.

Vincent van Gogh and his brother Theo, who traded art together, purchased The Mango Trees, Martinique for their own collection very soon after Gauguin returned from Martinique. This collection today forms the heart of the Van Gogh Museum’s permanent collection of works by Van Gogh’s contemporaries.

Vincent van Gogh called the painting ‘high poetry’. Gauguin was also deeply satisfied with this work, and considered it to be his best painting from his time in Martinique.