Chance Encounters, Edition 6

Van Gogh's Cypresses at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

In this edition of Chance Encounters, we preview the exhibition Van Gogh’s Cypresses, opening May 22 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

This exhibition will reunite iconic paintings—including Wheat Field with Cypresses and The Starry Night—and other rarely, if ever, lent works to offer an unprecedented perspective on Van Gogh’s fascination with the flamelike trees.

Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853-1890): Wheat Field with Cypresses, June 1889. Oil on canvas, 28 7/8 x 36 3/4 in. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Van Gogh first encountered the cypress trees that are towering landmarks in the French region of Provence when he moved from Paris to Arles in February 1888. The artist made this move seeking the sun and vivid landscapes as a cure for his physical illness and in search of new artistic inspiration. Cypresses began to appear in the artist’s drawings right away and then figure prominently in paintings beginning in spring of 1888.

Vincent van Gogh: Drawbridge, May 1888. Oil on canvas, 19.5 × 25.25 in. Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud, Cologne.

A treasure that survives to us from van Gogh’s life is a large collection of letters from Vincent to his brother Theo van Gogh, as well as letters to other family members, and to Vincent’s artist friends, as well as letters received by Vincent van Gogh from his correspondents. This exhibition includes a handful of letters from Vincent that contain, as many of his letters did, small sketches of works underway or recently completed. In the letter reproduced below, written to fellow artist Emile Bernard, van Gogh drew a sketch of the drawbridge depicted in the painting above. The sketch has color notations - jaune (yellow) for the sky, vert (green) for the bank, lilas (lilac) for the stonework, and so on, down to the details of the clothing worn by figures. This bridge, often called the Langlois Bridge in painting titles, was a subject van Gogh clearly loved as he painted and drew it many times.

Vincent van Gogh: Drawbridge with Walking Couple, sketch in a letter to Emile Bernard dated 18 March 1888. Pen and ink on paper, 8 x 5.25 in. The Morgan Library and Museum, New York.

Trees were an important element in Vincent van Gogh’s landscapes- orchards, willows, olive trees, poplars, and the cypresses that are the focus of this exhibition.

The cypresses still preoccupy me, I’d like to do something with them like the canvases of the sunflowers because it astonishes me that no one has yet done them as I see them. — Vincent van Gogh, in a letter to his brother Theo, dated 25 June 1889

Vincent van Gogh: Cypresses, June 1889. Oil on canvas, 36 3/4 x 29 1/8 in. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

In addition to the paintings, the Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition will include some of Vincent van Gogh’s unique reed pen drawings depicting cypresses. The broad pen strokes created by the reed pen effectively mimic the characteristic thick brush marks found in the artist’s oil paintings. Both pen and brush strokes are well suited to depicting the twisting, twining growth of cypress trees.

Vincent van Gogh: Cypresses, June 1889. Ink and graphite on wove Latune et Cie Balcons paper, 24 3/8 × 18 5/8 in. Brooklyn Museum, New York.

A cypress tree plays an important role in one of Vincent van Gogh’s best-known works, The Starry Night. Like the church steeple in the village beyond, this cypress stretches toward the swirling patterns and glowing lights of the night sky.

I also need a starry night with Cypresses … — Vincent van Gogh in a letter to his brother Theo dated 9 April 1888

Vincent van Gogh: The Starry Night, June 1889. Oil on canvas, 29 × 36 1/4 in. Museum of Modern Art, New York.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Van Gogh’s Cypresses opens on May 22 and continues until August 27. If you have a chance to visit, we hope you’ll come back and share your experience with us.