Cypresses by Vincent van Gogh - 1889 - 93.4 x 74 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art Cypresses by Vincent van Gogh - 1889 - 93.4 x 74 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art

Cypresses

oil on canvas • 93.4 x 74 cm
  • Vincent van Gogh - March 30, 1853 - July 29, 1890 Vincent van Gogh 1889

Cypresses was painted in late June 1889, shortly after Van Gogh began his year-long stay at the asylum in Saint-Rémy. The subject, which he found "beautiful as regards lines and proportions, like an Egyptian obelisk," both captivated and challenged the artist: "It’s the dark patch in a sun-drenched landscape, but it’s one of the most interesting dark notes, the most difficult to hit off exactly that I can imagine." One of two close-up views of the "very tall and massive" trees in a vertical format (the other is in the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo), Cypresses was shown in the 1890 Salon des Indépendants.