By: JESSICA RHOADES
Staff Writer
“Olive Trees with the Alpilles in the Background” by Vincent van Gogh
When Van Gogh admitted himself into the Saint Remy de Provence mental institution in May 1889, he often saw the same landscape, with the same olive trees. This led to him recreating at least 15 different pieces surrounding the outdoor landscape which he saw every day for a single year. He was confined to the asylum’s grounds for much of his stay, and in turn, could only paint what was around him. The gnarly shapes of the trees reflected Vincent’s artistic and mental journey. Van Gogh went through a mentally difficult time in the institution. Outdoors, surrounded by nature, he found comfort and strength. Van Gogh was often mesmerized by the rustle of the Olive Trees. He often compared their cycles to an analogy of human life and found profound meaning in their existence. Painting these gave him relief from his illness and the emotional turmoil that he often suffered during this period. He found olive trees, representative of Provence, both “demanding and compelling.” He wrote to his brother Theo that he was “struggling to catch (the olive trees). They are old silver, sometimes with blue in them, sometimes greenish, bronzed, fading white above a soil which is yellow, pink, violet tinted orange… very difficult.” He found that the “rustle of the olive grove has something very secret in it, and is immensely old. It is too beautiful for us to dare to paint it or to be able to imagine it.”