VOICES FROM HISTORY
“This morning I saw the countryside from my window a long time before sunrise, with nothing but the morning star, which looked very big.”
— Vincent van Gogh, letter to Theo from the asylum at Saint-Rémy (no. 777), June 1889
“Just as we take the train to go to Tarascon or Rouen, we take death to go to a star.”
— Vincent van Gogh, letter to Theo (no. 638), July 1888
Sign in to join the discussion.
Walter Greene · 5d
The cypress in the foreground is doing so much work. Cover it with your thumb and the whole composition goes quiet.
Hannah Lindqvist · 5d
He painted this from the asylum window at Saint-Rémy. Knowing that, the village feels imagined to me — like something remembered rather than seen.
Marcus Bell · 7d
Stood in front of this in New York years ago and the line was 45 minutes. Worth every second. What surprised me is how thick the paint is — the swirls are almost sculpted.
Priya Raghavan · 5d
The impasto! Reproductions completely flatten it. You have to see it at an angle to understand what he was doing.
Brian Kelly · 5d
Forty-five minutes is nothing, I waited longer for brunch last weekend. Adding this to the list.