Cypresses by Van Gogh in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, May 2011

Title: Cypresses

Artist: Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, Zundert 1853–1890 Auvers-sur-Oise)

Date: 1889

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 36 3/4 x 29 1/8 in. (93.4 x 74 cm)

Classification: Paintings

Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1949

Object Number: 49.30


Cypresses was painted in late June 1889, shortly after Van Gogh began his yearlong 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, Otterlo), Cypresses was shown in the 1890 Salon des Indépendants.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/437980