This week’s painting of the week is: Olive Trees with the Alpilles in the Background.
Vincent van Gogh had a fascination for olive trees. He wrote to Theo that the olive groves reminded him of the bright colors he had sought when he moved to the south.
The studies of Olive groves helped Vincent to work on his color skills. The silver color of the leaves and the shape of the tree trunks were a challenge to him. He wanted to capture the movements and strong colors of these trees.
Between June and December 1889, during his stay at the asylum in Saint-Remy, Van Gogh made about fifteen paintings of olive orchards. After isolating himself, the first months of his stay in the asylum, he began to paint the trees that were steps away from the asylum in June and July. This made him feel a bit better, back into nature and away from the narrow asylum walls.
Vincent wrote many comments about olive trees in letters to his brother Theo. For example:
"Oh, my dear Theo, if you saw the olives just now…The leaves, old silver and silver turning to green against the blue. And the orange-coloured ploughed earth. It is something quite different from your idea of it in the North, the tender beauty, the distinction!"
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