Although his artistic career lasted just 10 years, Vincent van Gogh left behind a diverse body of work that continues to amaze people around the world.
Since I lived in a village of artists called Auvers-sur-Oise, just outside Paris, devoted all his time to painting, producing an average of one canvas per day. His style, already very unique, became even bolder and his compositions even more ambitious. Between the time he got to Auvers-sur-Oise by mid-May and his death on July 29, 1890, he created more than 70 paintings, in addition to dozens of sketches and drawings.
The Last Year of Vincent van Gogh
In May 1890, Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) finally left the hospital in nearby Saint-Remy, in France, after living there for a year. Although he entered voluntarily in May of the previous year, he began to show signs of uneasiness in letters from him a couple of months before his departure.
“The environment here is starting to weigh on me more than I can say… I need some air, I feel overwhelmed with boredom and grief,” he wrote to his brother, Theo van Gogh.
Almost immediately after leaving the hospital, Van Gogh moved to a small town on the outskirts of Paris called Auvers-sur-Oisea popular destination for artists, where he was under the supervision of the Dr Paul Gachetdoctor and art collector.
There, he was also closer to his younger brother The Owho worked in Paris and was responsible for financially supporting Van Gogh.
financial instability
Van Gogh She was never able to support herself as an artist, requiring Theo’s financial and emotional support throughout her life.
Although this arrangement went through several ups and downs, it seems that Van Gogh was especially concerned about his finances in the weeks before his death.
At the time, Theo and his wife, Jo, were expecting a child, which meant another person to support. Also, Theo was considering leaving his job as an art dealer to start a business.
These changes most likely caused Van Gogh great anxiety, which probably transferred to the art he was producing at the time.
latest paintings
Upon arriving at Auvers-sur-Oise, Van Gogh he threw himself into his work. She completed, on average, one painting per day. “I am giving my canvases my full attention. I am trying to do as well as certain painters whom I have loved and admired very much…” she wrote to Theo.
While this renewed energy may have been his way of dealing with some of the anxiety surrounding finances and his mental health, and certainly his loneliness, it is clear that the landscape greatly inspired the artist. Wheat fields became a recurring theme, and he captured several from different times of day and perspectives.
In addition, the latest works of Van Gogh they also seem to reflect a change in his style, in which his canvases became even bolder, more expressive, and sometimes even abstract.
Total, Van Gogh completed more than 70 paintings between the time he reached Auvers-sur-Oise at the end of May and his death on July 29, 1890.
While there is no clear consensus on which painting was the last complete work of Van Goghespecially since he rarely dated his paintings, historians have argued for a couple of pieces that have been securely dated to the month the artist died.
Wheat Field with Crows, July 1890
The painting that was commonly believed to be the final work of Van Gogh is Wheat Field with Crows. Although there is now enough evidence to debate this theory, this painting is one of the last works he produced and one of his most highly regarded compositions.
As part of the Trigales series of Van Gogh, this work consists of tall yellow wheat field with a dirt road winding through the middle of the canvas. Above the horizon is a dark blue, almost turbulent sky, dotted with flying ravens. The dead end road, the stormy sky and the ravens have been used as evidence of the possible state of mind of Van Gogh at that moment.
