A new exhibition showcasing 50 paintings that Vincent Van Gogh produced during the prolific last two months of his life in Auvers-sur-Oise, Val-d'Oise, has opened at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris today (October 3).
The Dutch post-impressionist master produced 73 paintings and 33 drawings - more than one a day - during two months in the village north-west of Paris before he took his own life on July 27, 1890.
The painter is buried in the village’s municipal cemetery, beside his brother and art dealer Theo whom he had moved to be closer to as Theo lived in Paris.
The exhibition is the first to cover this period of Van Gogh’s life, and includes 50 of the paintings produced during this time as well as 20 drawings.
Several of the works are considered to be masterpieces, such as Portrait of Dr. Gachet, The Church at Auvers, and Wheat field with crows.
Indeed, it was in a wheat field near the village that Van Gogh put a pistol to his chest, mortally wounding himself.
Watch the Musée d’Orsay's presentation of the exhibition here:
Van Gogh is more generally associated with the south of France, where he lived for two years, in Arles.
Auvers-sur-Oise offered the Dutch master a different colour palette: deeper greens and slate greys rather than the golden light of sun-kissed Arles.
Maisons à Auvers-sur-Oise Pic: Vincent van Gogh(1853-1890), 1890 huile sur toile, 60 × 73 cm Toledo Museum of Art © Toledo Museum of Art
“Auvers is really beautiful – among other things many old thatched roofs, which are becoming rare,” wrote Van Gogh to his brother Theo on May 20, 1890.
‘Van Gogh à Auvers-sur-Oise: Les derniers mois’ will run in the Musée d’Orsay until February 4, 2024.
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