Van Gogh's last paintings

Báo Đà Nẵng•20/05/2023

With 50 paintings and 30 sketches by the Dutch master Van Gogh on display at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam (Netherlands), visitors have the opportunity to look deeper into a brief but exceptionally special period of his artistic career.

Art researchers believe that the painting "Tree Roots" was the last work of the Dutch master Van Gogh. (Image: Van Gogh Museum)

In the final days of his life in a French village, despite his mood gradually sinking into a spiral of despair, the renowned painter Van Gogh still had moments of sublime inspiration to create many masterpieces. His works from this period are being gathered and exhibited for the first time in an unprecedented exhibition in Amsterdam (Netherlands) from May 12th to September 3rd.

Pour out every last drop of "essence".

The exhibition, titled “Van Gogh in Auvers. His Final Months,” presents 50 of the 74 paintings he created in his final days in the town of Auvers-sur-Oise, northwest of Paris, before his suicide at the age of 37.

According to the exhibition curators, more than 30 of the sketches on display were borrowed from museums and private collections around the world . Notably, they had never been "arranged" together in an exhibition like this before.

"This is a one-time exhibition about the last 70 days of Van Gogh's life," Emilie Gordenker, Director of the Van Gogh Museum, told reporters at a meeting on May 10th before the exhibition.

“During that period, he worked like a ‘spirit medium,’ creating some of his finest works, including the ominous painting ‘Wheatfield with Crows’ and the melancholic portrait of his friend, Dr. Paul Gachet,” said Emilie Gordenker.

A truly unique exhibition.

What sets the exhibition “Van Gogh in Auvers. His Final Months” apart from any previous exhibition about Van Gogh is that the paintings are arranged chronologically. From the first painting when the Dutch painter arrived in the French village, to the last one, “Tree Roots,” painted just two days before his death.

The renowned painter Van Gogh arrived in the town of Auvers-sur-Oise near Paris on May 20, 1890, after living for a time in Arles and Saint-Remy-de-Provence in southern France and having suffered several times from mental illness.

When he first arrived in the village of Auvers, he was full of hope and enthusiasm, largely thanks to the presence of Dr. Gachet, a specialist in treating melancholy and depression. It was also in this village that he entered one of his most prolific and productive periods of writing.

“Mr. Vincent had a very difficult time before he came to the village of Auvers,” said Emilie Gordenker. “He really suffered a lot because of his mental illness. He came to Auvers and really had a new energy; he became very enthusiastic about his work,” she continued.

Meanwhile, Nienke Bakker, senior art curator at the Van Gogh Museum, told AFP about this period of Van Gogh's life: "He certainly worked very quickly. But he also knew exactly what he was doing."

“In preparing for the exhibition, we were amazed not only by the number of paintings he created at Auvers in such a short period, but also by their superb quality, as well as his confidence, expressiveness, and experimentation with them until the very last days,” said Nienke Bakker. “It shows that he was an extraordinary artist.”

But as time went on, a feeling of unease crept into Van Gogh, as one can sense in paintings such as "Wheatfield with Crows" and later "Wheatfield Under Thunderclouds".

In fact, in a letter to his brother Theodorus, Van Gogh also spoke about his last painting, "Tree Roots," with lines like, "My life has been attacked to its very roots, my steps have faltered." Feelings of failure, loneliness, and sadness gradually overwhelmed the artist, and two days later, not long after completing "Tree Roots," he committed suicide by shooting himself in the chest.

The exhibition “Van Gogh in Auvers. His Final Months,” after being on display from May 12 to September 3 this year, will be moved to the Orsay Museum for display from October 3, 2023 to February 4, 2024.

TRAN DAC LUAN (according to AFP)

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