Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker trees and bushes are free to grow wherever they please landscapes that undoubtedly inspired painters of the time Les Globe-trotteurs à la voix d'orSaturday 2025 - 12:00 ⤏ 13:00LES GLOBE-TROTTEURS À LA VOIX D'OR AU CHÂTEAU D'AUVERS in partnership with the Auvers Festival In the main courtyard of the Château d'Auvers which sings on the roads of France and the world like the world's most famous choirs The eclectic repertoire of the Petits Chanteurs de France will take you from Mozart's most beautiful pages to a more folkloric repertoire and will take you on a journey from Broadway Under the direction of Véronique THOMASSIN https://musees-valdoise.oxygeno.fr/?categorie=EVENT Refer your establishment, click herePromote your event, click here Auvers-sur-Oise, a village near Paris famed as an artist’s paradise, is also where Vincent van Gogh spent his final days and it has long drawn tourists to walk in the tortured painter’s last footsteps. But ever since art experts identified his final work before he took his life, there has been strife in the town. Van Gogh’s final painting was disputed for decades, because he didn’t date his works. But in 2020 experts concluded that gnarled tree roots protruding from a hillside in Auvers are what is depicted in his “Tree Roots,” made on the day he died. This finding may have settled one dispute, but it immediately stirred another, this one between the municipality and the owners of the property where the roots grow. The main root depicted in the painting — from a black locust tree and dubbed the “elephant” by enthusiasts — abuts a public road. After the discovery of its historical value, the municipality claimed a section of privately owned land near the road as public domain, saying it was necessary for maintenance. Jean-François and Hélène Serlinger, the property owners, fought the village, and an appeals court recently concluded there was no basis for the municipality’s claim. But the mayor of Auvers, Isabelle Mézières, has pledged to keep fighting, and she can still appeal to a higher court. After the decision, she insisted that the site should belong to the public, not private owners. “The Roots belong to the Auversois!” she wrote on social media, referring to the citizens of the region. The continued fight over van Gogh’s tree roots has cast a pall over what is usually a celebratory season in Auvers, population 7,000, where art tourism is a big business that heats up in the spring. That the village has been depicted by other notable painters, including Pierre Auguste Renoir, Paul Cezanne and Camille Pissarro, has only added to its attraction. Its popularity is such that French transit authorities run a seasonal line from Paris, dubbed the “Impressionists’ Train,” and people come from afar to see what the local tourist board calls “the open-air museum that Auvers has become over time.” The property owners say the conflict is endangering the historic site, as the mayor has blocked them and experts from properly protecting the roots since their significance was established. In a phone interview, Jean-François Serlinger accused the municipality of using the administrative case as a pretext for “an attempted takeover of a culturally significant site” and of simultaneously endangering the roots by “obstructing the installation of a permanent protective structure.” The municipality and the mayor declined requests for comment. But it is perhaps fitting that these tree roots should be the subject of such a knotty dispute. Van Gogh’s famous painting depicting the tangled roots shows “the struggle of life, and a struggle with death,” Wouter van der Veen, the researcher in France who identified the roots, said in 2020. Still, the painting is bright and lively, made at the end of a productive period in van Gogh’s troubled existence — after he famously cut off his ear and spent time in an asylum — and the village celebrates the Dutch painter whose work was rejected in life and embraced after his death. Van Gogh is a major attraction, including for the Serlingers. The couple moved to Auvers in 1996 because Hélène Serlinger, an artist, wanted to live where van Gogh had worked. In 2013, they bought a small additional parcel of land near their house, connected to their yard, extending their territory. Only years later did it turn out that the roots on that new property were an important part of art history. Now, the roots have their own website and nonprofit organization, run by the Serlingers, who say they want to protect the location for the public to enjoy. They have partnered with the Van Gogh Europe Foundation, which brings together key locations and museums linked to the painter under the direction of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Last year, the Serlingers began opening their yard to visitors for tours. Jean-François Serlinger insists the couple did not intend to make their yard into a destination and have not profited from the tours. He noted that the main root is mostly visible to the public from the road, though the municipality has placed a 10-foot sign there highlighting the find that partially obstructs the view and “disfigures the front of the site.” It was the enthusiasm of art experts and academics visiting them over the years that convinced the couple to open up their land to the public, he said. They now charge about $9 for a 30-minute “walk through the landscape of van Gogh’s final painting,” he added, with funds going to preservation costs. Saturday was the start of the new tourist season. But the dispute has unsettled the property owners and raised concerns about the preservation of the roots. “It created a deep sense of insecurity around a site that calls for calm and serenity,” Jean-François Serlinger said. “We have a feeling of insecurity with a mayor who is still in a war.” Stay secure and make sure you have the best reading experience possible by upgrading your browser! 2025 The postcard colourised with an overlay of Tree Roots by Van Gogh ©arthénon via Van Gogh MuseumA row over the ownership of the tree roots that figured in the last painting by Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh continues to rage in the French village of  Auvers-sur-Oise a French court decided the 350-year-old roots belong to the owner of the garden in which the roots are located much to the chagrin of mayor Isabelle Mézières who has now vowed to take the case to the highest court Mézière said in her Facebook post that the roots are  “a common good” and” not a commercial enterprise” They did not discover until seven years after the purchase that the roots in their garden had a connection with Van Gogh It was Wouter van Veen, director of the Institut Van Gogh, who discovered the site in a postcard of Auvers-sur-Oise from between 1900 and 1910. “On that postcard, you can see a man with a bicycle and behind him a hill with a remarkable tree structure,” Van der Veen told Nieuwsuur in 2020 The scene reminded him of the gnarled tree motif in Van Gogh’s Boomwortels (tree roots) from 1890 The were a lot of similar features that made a lot of sense to me The site is at 150 metres of the Ravoux Inn where Van Gogh was staying at the time,” he said A few hours after Van Gogh finished the painting, he shot himself in the chest. He died two days later. Further investigations by the Van Gogh museum and other experts have confirmed the contested roots are those Van Gogh painted. The roots reportedly attract some 300,000 people a year, and the Serlingers also organise guided tours. Mézières has accused them of “shamelessly exploiting” what she claimed was part of the public space because it verges on a public road. The last court decision puts the owners, who have said they are safeguarding the integrity of the site, in the right for the second time. However the mayor has said she will go to the highest authority in the land to “preserve the heritage of the Auversois”. We could not provide the Dutch News service, and keep it free of charge, without the generous support of our readers. Your donations allow us to report on issues you tell us matter, and provide you with a summary of the most important Dutch news each day. Many thanks to everyone who has donated to DutchNews.nl in recent days! We could not provide this service without you. If you have not yet made a contribution, you can do so here. Please help us making DutchNews.nl a better read by taking part in a short survey. Notifications can be managed in browser preferences. Artist painted ‘Tree Roots’ in the village of Auvers-sur-Oise hours before his death I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice A village feud over who owns the tree roots featured in Vincent van Gogh’s last painting has been settled after a local mayor lost a court bid to take the land from a couple’s garden Just hours before his death in July 1890, Van Gogh painted a scene of tangled tree roots in vivid colours – putting his internal struggle on full display In 2020, the tree roots he painted were identified in the back garden of 48 Rue Daubigny, in the small riverside village of Auvers-sur-Oise, where the artist spent his final days. Since its discovery, the site has been subject of a bitter row between the owners of the land, Jean-François and Hélène Serlinger, and Auvers’ mayor, Isabelle Mézières. The local authorities tried to take the site under public ownership in 2020, claiming it was part of the public highway. However, in 2023 a local court ruled against the mayor, and now the matter appears to be settled for once and for all after the Versailles appeal court backed up the previous ruling. “We are very happy that this is now over,” Ms Serlinger, 68, told The Independent. “The mayor tried to grab the bottom part of the sire by saying it was part of the road, which is terrible. “But the appeal is very clear, which is great, and now we can use our maximum energy to work on the site and welcome more people from around the world.” The couple’s love for Van Gogh inspired them to move to the quaint village in 1996. They acquired the extra land at the bottom of their garden in 2013, but had no idea the roots that lay there were of such significance at the time. Since the Van Gogh Institute identified the site as the place the Dutch master painted his final masterpiece in 2020, the couple have welcomed visitors from around the globe – including Van Gogh’s family. Enthusiasts can take a 30-minute tour of their garden for €8 when they open for the season on April 12. Since the appeal judgement was handed down, Ms Mézières has taken to social media to criticise the couple. “The roots belong to the people of Auvers!” she wrote, adding that she would be continuing legal action. “We are taking legal action. There is no question of giving in to the public interest of the people of Auvers over private interests. The question of ownership is not settled. “It was the city that had the condition of the roots assessed by an expert and called on the Ministry of Culture to preserve the heritage of the people of Auvers. These roots are a common good, not a commercial object!” Tree Roots is the last work painted by Van Gogh before he shot himself in a nearby wheat field, probably just hours later. At first sight the painting seems to display a jumble of bright colours in abstract forms, which are in fact a slope with tree trunks and roots. The work was not entirely completed and Andries Bonger, the brother-in-law of Vincent's brother Theo, described it in a letter: “The morning before his death, he had painted a sous-bois [forest scene], full of sun and life.” Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies govt and politics"},{"score":0.673076,"label":"/style and fashion/body art"},{"score":0.654223,"label":"/business and industrial/business operations/business plans"},{"score":0.611492,"label":"/law There are only two trains a day: departing from Gare du Nord at 9.38 a.m the village of Auvers-sur-Oise is sure to arouse your curiosity creating masterpieces such as"L'église d'Auvers " and"Un bouvier à Valhermeil" Please note that the train will not run on the weekends of July 26 and 27 and August 2 Vincent Van Gogh walked up a lane in Auvers-sur-Oise and used his trademark yellows blues and greens to paint a set of gnarled roots emerging from the leafy roadside embankment he shot himself in the chest in a nearby wheatfield and staggered back to his room in the Auberge Ravoux a glimpse into the artist’s tormented psyche was Van Gogh’s final painting before his death two days later in the riverside village on the outskirts of Paris In 2020 experts pinpointed Van Gogh’s scene plus the still extant roots in the garden of 48 Rue Daubigny but their fate has only now been decided with a ruling 29 Days Ago 29 Days Ago Share this article Comments The result - Tree Roots (1890)- was a chaotic burst of colour and form interpreted by many as a visual cry from a mind in anguish It is widely believed to be his last work before he shot himself in a nearby wheat field later that same day that very spot - a quiet patch at the bottom of a garden in Auvers-sur-Oise - became the unlikely centre of a longstanding Since Van Gogh's final painting was identified to the garden of 48 Rue Daubigny in 2020 have turned their land into a destination for art lovers offering guided tours (currently €8 per visit) and drawing visitors from around the world and claiming it was part of the public road long before its significance was discovered A lower court ruled in the couple’s favour in 2023 and now the Versailles appeal court has confirmed the decision bringing the long-running feud to an apparent end "The embankment containing the tree roots painted by Vincent Van Gogh does not constitute an accessory to the public highway," ruled the Versailles Administrative Court of Appeal Since the ruling, Mézières has taken to social media to denounce the ruling and vowed to continue legal action declaring: “These roots are not a commodity - they belong to the people of Auvers." There is no question of giving in to the public interest of the people of Auvers over private interests The question of ownership is not settled." The location of the legendary Dutch painter's suspected final artwork was identified by Dutch researcher Wouter van der Veen the scientific director of the Van Gogh Institute in France He made the discovery after recognising that the scene depicted in the painting matched a faded postcard showing a man standing next to a bicycle on a backstreet in the village of Auvers-sur-Oise Van der Veen's identification revealed that Van Gogh had painted Tree Roots on a sloping bank just outside the village, around 35 kilometres (21 miles) north of Paris. This discovery also provided a new insight into Van Gogh's final hours, confirming that he worked on the piece into the afternoon of his death. “There has been a lot of speculation about his state of mind, but one thing that is very clear is that he spent quite a bit longer working on this painting right through the afternoon. We know that from the light fall in the work,” Emilie Gordenker, director of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, told The Associated Press at the time of the discovery. “So, you know, he really was at work right up to to the end.” According to the museum's account of Van Gogh's life, after working on Tree Roots, the artist walked into a nearby wheat field later that day and shot himself in the chest with a pistol. He died two days later, on 29 July 1890, at the age of 37. A 3-day summit bringing together world-renowned prominent speakers will address key topics on the threats posed by the existing regime and the imperative of adopting the right policies for the future of Iran and supporting the Ten-Point Plan of Maryam Rajavi “I want the wider world to understand that the MEK and the NCRI share the same values that Western nations hold dear Rajavi’s 10-point plan for the future of Iran will extend political and economic equality to women.” At the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) headquarters in Auvers-sur-Oise support of majority members of the Italian Parliament At the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) headquarters in Auvers-sur-Oise The President-elect of the NCRI for the period to transfer sovereignty to the people of Iran Copyright © 2025  Maryam Rajavi | All rights reserverd is a unique place that combines heritage and Impressionist discoveries in a preserved landscape From a 17th- and 18th-century château to a modern an influential Italian financier at the court of Marie de Médicis this monument illustrates the magnificence of Italian Renaissance villas Its architecture is complemented by a shell-mosaic nymphaeum which today represents one of the last of its kind in France the Château d'Auvers has seen a number of owners transforming the building and its grounds into a place steeped in history the Château was acquired by the Département du Val d'Oise it has been listed on the supplementary inventory of historic monuments the estate is laid out in horizontal terraces that open up wide views over the Oise valley This landscape setting is all the more remarkable for its play on perspective and viewpoints characteristics dear to the Impressionists who found it an inexhaustible source of inspiration it inspired many Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painters: Daubigny this space dedicated to nymphs is adorned with shells creating a place both mystical and fascinating Its exceptional conservation makes it a rare and precious 17th-century piece illustrating the delicacy and refinement of the period add a further layer to the château's artistic wealth revealing battle scenes and landscapes painted in trompe-l'œil demonstrating a remarkable mastery of this artistic technique The estate also includes 2 seventeenth-century orangeries which reinforce the link between architecture and nature has the unique feature of being built on a stone bridge creating a unique harmony between the building and the landscape the Château d'Auvers is an exceptional place where history art and nature come together to offer a rich and diverse cultural experience an art enthusiast or looking for fun activities for the kids it's the ideal setting for making wonderful discoveries And don't forget that visits to the park and gardens are free In the heart ofAuvers-sur-Oise, the Musée Daubigny invites art lovers to immerse themselves in the world of the landscape painters of the 19th and early 20th centuries Housed in the former Colombières manor house this municipal museum presents a year-round permanent collection of works mainly from the Auvers school as well as a variety of temporary exhibitions all you have to do is push open the doors on rue de la Sansonne in the heart of this village with a strong artistic reputation when the municipality of Auvers-sur-Oise decided to showcase the area's exceptional pictorial heritage pioneer of plein-air landscape painting and precursor of the Impressionists the museum now exhibits works by artists who lived or worked in Auvers Did you know that Daubigny sailed on the Oise in his studio boat Cross the threshold of the Musée Daubigny and you'll discover a permanent collection that focuses on landscapes drawings and engravings bear witness to the artistic effervescence that reigned in Auvers at the time Will you be carried away by Daubigny's paintings as well as those of his contemporaries and successors such as Norbert Goeneutte and Ludovic Piette The museum immerses you in the peaceful atmosphere of the banks of the Oise Whether you're looking for a romantic getaway a cultural outing with the family or a relaxing moment with friends the museum's warm atmosphere lends itself to every desire be sure to check the opening times on the museum's official website or that of the Auvers-sur-Oise town hall This page may contain AI-assisted elements, more information here Closed for several years due to renovation work, the Maison du Docteur Gachet, an emblematic cultural site inAuvers-sur-Oise reopens its doors to the general public on April 5 This is an opportunity to discover the house that once belonged to Doctor Gachet Famous for having seen the painter Van Gogh pass through its doors, the village of Auvers-sur-Oise, located in the Val-d'Oise département also boasts another personality who left a lasting mark on its territory: Doctor Gachet Doctor Paul Ferdinand Gachet welcomed Vincent Van Gogh on his arrival in Auvers-sur-Oise The painter immortalized the doctor on three occasions the house and garden have been listed on the supplementary inventory of Historic Monuments you can discover Docteur Gachet's collection of paintings and engravings To discover this unique site in Auvers-sur-Oise Impressionism enthusiasts can immerse themselves in the landscapes of the movement's most famous painters The venue is the Maison du Docteur Gachet a charming 19th-century residence that also features an English garden and a troglodytic artist's studio amassed one of the most important collections of Impressionist art in Europe in homage to the iconic painter whose final body of work was completed in Auvers-sur-Oise Self-guided tour: Van Gogh chez le docteur GachetSaturday 2025 - 18:30 ⤏ 21:00For European Museum Night the Maison du Docteur Gachet is open after closing time Discover this emblematic place where Vincent van Gogh found refuge in 1890 Free admission on reservation from 6.30pm to 9pm (site closes at 9.30pm) Join us at 7:30pm for a guided tour of the garden and the Maison du docteur Gachet where we'll get up close and personal with Vincent van Gogh Discover this emblematic art-historical site during a 40-minute tour that will take you back to 1890 with anecdotes about the relationship between Dr the château has been completely redesigned to accommodate the presentation of the painter's last journeys We take you on a journey to the heart of France via his excursions to Arles and Saint-Rémy-de-Provence which tell the story of his life and the landscapes that accompanied it You can enter into the artist's creative process and his private life discovering the personalities he rubbed shoulders with A true exploration of a village dear to his heart devoted to the last four years of his life in a scenography combining digital technology and original works both his own and those of his contemporaries This second part of the exhibition will feature new with an intense cultural program of guided tours Every year, over 3,000 French museums and monuments take part in the Nuit des Musées This major cultural event delights art and heritage enthusiasts who can spend an evening discovering the most beautiful places in our cultural and historical heritage we're looking forward to seeing you on Saturday May 17 2025 at cultural venues across Paris and theIle-de-France region for a magical evening exploring the region's exhibitions For regular museum-goers and heritage monument enthusiasts alike the Nuit des Musées is an opportunity to visit places steeped in history it's impossible to visit all the places taking part in this event here's our selection of not-to-be-missed outings to discover the most beautiful monuments and châteaux in the Paris region magnificent châteaux and monuments are opening their doors to you So make the most of it and discover these places without delay The Journées du Patrimoine (Heritage Days) take place on the weekend of September 21 and 22 offer everyone an unrivalled chance to explore historic sites and exceptional monuments and to go behind the scenes of places that are often closed to the public promising unique and memorable experiences we're pulling out all the stops to celebrate the town's artistic heritage Auvers-sur-Oise isn't just a village it has been a source of inspiration for many artists including none other than Vincent Van Gogh luminous fields and historic buildings tell the story of centuries of history you feel the perfect fusion of past and present with every stone and every painting whispering tales of bygone days Heritage Days 2024 at Notre-Dame de l'Assomption church le programme est mis à jour en fonction des annonces officielles Heritage Days 2024 at the Maison Rose de Wallerand le programme est mis à jour en fonction des annonces officielles.Heritage Days 2024 at the Daubigny Museum le programme est mis à jour en fonction des annonces officielles.Heritage Days 2024 at Daubigny's Maison-Atelier Heritage Days 2024 at the Auvers sur Oise Sausseron Tourist Office your new go-to podcast to spice up your weekday mornings with relevant news and behind-the-scenes from Brussels and beyond From the economy to the climate and the EU's role in world affairs this talk show sheds light on European affairs and the issues that impact on our daily lives as Europeans Tune in to understand the ins and outs of European politics Dare to imagine the future with business and tech visionaries Deep dive conversations with business leaders Euronews Tech Talks goes beyond discussions to explore the impact of new technologies on our lives the podcast provides valuable insights into the intersection of technology and society Europe's water is under increasing pressure floods are taking their toll on our drinking water Join us on a journey around Europe to see why protecting ecosystems matters and to discover some of the best water solutions an animated explainer series and live debate - find out why Water Matters We give you the latest climate facts from the world’s leading source analyse the trends and explain how our planet is changing We meet the experts on the front line of climate change who explore new strategies to mitigate and adapt In the final hours of his life, a 37-year-old Vincent Van Gogh set up his easel beside a tangled slope of roots and painted with furious intensity Van der Veen's identification revealed that Van Gogh had painted Tree Roots on a sloping bank just outside the village, around 35 kilometres (21 miles) north of Paris. This discovery also provided a new insight into Van Gogh's final hours confirming that he worked on the piece into the afternoon of his death “There has been a lot of speculation about his state of mind but one thing that is very clear is that he spent quite a bit longer working on this painting right through the afternoon We know that from the light fall in the work,” Emilie Gordenker director of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam told The Associated Press at the time of the discovery he really was at work right up to to the end.” According to the museum's account of Van Gogh's life the artist walked into a nearby wheat field later that day and shot himself in the chest with a pistol France has ordered a Belarusian man who dug holes near the grave of Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh to leave the country filmed a video of himself digging the holes around the famous painter’s grave in the Auvers-sur-Oise cemetery (Val-d’Oise He said he was digging the holes as part of an artistic act and appeared in the video dressed in white Mr Kuzmich is now the subject of an ‘obligation de quitter le territoire français (OQTF) (obligation to leave French territory order)’ after it emerged that he is in France illegally Read also: What is a 'leave France' OQTF order?  Mr Kuzmich was summoned before a court in Pontoise and received a suspended prison sentence of one month "He was clearly in France illegally,” the prefecture told AFP “An OQTF was issued and he was placed in detention [with a view to deportation].”  Vincent Van Gogh is buried in Val-d’Oise after having lived in the region for a few weeks before his death in 1890 He spent time in Paris earlier in his life before spending more than a year living in Arles (Bouches-du-Rhône the setting for many of his most famous works.  Read also: Exhibition showcasing Van Gogh’s last works opens in Paris  He was also later committed to a psychiatric institution in Saint-Rémy de Provence after his mental health worsened significantly He had moved to Auvers-sur-Oise in the hopes of living independently but committed suicide just two months later even as he became even more prolific in his work He is buried next to his brother and long-time letter correspondent and supporter Mr Kuzmich made headlines in France in 2021 after holding a fake Molotov cocktail in front of the Elysée Palace for which he received a warning Police are reported to be concentrating on people likely to wish direct ill of Karen Carter who was fatally stabbed on April 29 Teaching staff may soon be able to search students’ belongings probably one of the best-known painters in the world spent the last months of his life in Auvers-sur-Oise spreading out around the house where he lived has been a source of inspiration for many artists This is an opportunity for a weekend of exploration Vincent van Gogh moved to Auvers-sur-Oise in the spring of 1890 on his return from the south of France where he had been committed to a psychiatric institution “Auvers is seriously beautiful,” he wrote to his brother Theo He spent the last 70 days of his life there an extraordinarily prolific period during which he produced more than 80 paintings before dying in tragic circumstances shrouded in mystery Auvers-sur-Oise is like an open-air museum Visiting van Gogh’s final resting place is like a pilgrimage where the artist’s bedroom is preserved in its original state It’s an emotionally-charged experience that you’ll never forget Before you continue your exploration of the village a bistronomic restaurant housed inside a 17th-century building one of the first coaching inns on the North Road after leaving Paris you’ll have a view of the church bell tower painted by van Gogh which you’ll be keen to visit during a delightful stroll through the village Le Relais des Peintres 6 Rue du Général de Gaulle - 95430 Auvers-sur-Oise After getting yourself a map at the tourist office explore with the help of a signposted trail of the sites associated with the history of van Gogh in Auvers Its route through the village is vividly evocative One of the highlights of the walk is the church famous worldwide thanks to the picture it inspired van Gogh to paint and which is today in the collections of the musée d’Orsay in Paris the trail takes you to the village cemetery the resting place of the artist and his brother Theo surrounded by the wheatfields that inspired his final painting “picture-plaques” reproduce the artist’s works Adults and children will enjoy spotting the exact place where he was standing and comparing the landscapes of past and present And why not finish this lovely afternoon with a little aperitif worthy of the Belle Epoque dedicated to the favourite drink of 19th-century artists and poets After exploring an incredible collection of objects and archives devoted to the demonic “Green Fairy” you’ll have the opportunity to taste it together with a demonstration of the ritual you’ll be able to enjoy a well-earned rest at the l’Hôtel des Iris you’ll find little nods to van Gogh and the Impressionist painters 21 rue du Général de Gaulle - 95430 Auvers-sur-Oise After a restful night’s sleep and a good breakfast the morning continues gently with a beautiful and peaceful ride on the Oise An enthusiasts’ association has reconstructed the Botin the boat-studio of the painter Charles-François Daubigny you’ll also be able to view the countryside along the banks of the Oise which has inspired many artists 38 rue du général De Gaulle - 95430 Auvers-sur-oise It’s back to dry land to explore Daubigny’s house-cum-studio classed first as an Historic Monument and later granted the status of “Maison des Illustres” Don’t miss the pretty garden that inspired one of van Gogh’s paintings Head for the lovely terrace of the “Sous le Porche” restaurant you can enjoy fresh seasonal produce and fortify yourself Restaurant Sous le Porche 35 rue du Pois Auvers sur Oise you can enjoy numerous activities in the vicinity of Auvers-sur-Oise These are off-the-beaten-track experiences enabling you to explore the places immortalised by painters in Auvers-sur-Oise and the surrounding area you can also ride through the sublime countryside of the Regional Natural Park of the Vexin Français by following part of the route of the London-Paris Avenue Verte (Greenway) It’s another way of exploring the countryside that has inspired so many artists and an ideal way to round off your stay in this beautiful location Val d’Oise Aventures 6 avenue Marcel Perrin Best in Travel is here! Discover 2025’s destinations The 30 best countries, cities and regions to visit in 2025 Plan your trip with Elsewhere, by Lonely Planet See where a Lonely Planet Membership takes you Subscribe to our weekly newsletters to get the latest travel news, expert advice, and insider recommendations Explore the world with our detailed, insightful guidebooks Stay ahead of the curve with our guidebooks Uncover exciting new ways to explore iconic destinations Every month, we release new books into the wild Search Search Close search menu Explore Best in Travel 2024 Africa Close menu Countries Antarctica Antarctica Close menu Regions Asia Asia Close menu Countries Australia & the Pacific Australia & the Pacific Close menu Countries The Caribbean The Caribbean Close menu Countries Central America Central America Close menu Countries Europe Europe Close menu Countries Middle East Middle East Close menu Countries North America North America Close menu Countries South America South America Close menu Countries The red-doored and red-walled home of painter Charles-François Daubigny at Auvers-sur-Oise already had pedigree as an artists’ village when Vincent van Gogh arrived in the spring of 1890 intense stay the Dutch master would paint 80 works in 70 days — a frenzy of productivity that would end with his death from a gunshot wound in his tiny room at the main street’s auberge (inn) As a new multimedia exhibition on Impressionism opens at the Château d’Auvers-sur-Oise we retrace the final days of the tortured genius through this quiet Van Gogh was not the first artist to discover the rural charms of Auvers. In the mid-1800s, the railway opened up the Oise valley to Paris’ thriving artistic milieu picturesque river and rugged farming folk provided Impressionist painters with their preferred subject matter: landscapes and life outdoors This impressive artistic heritage is celebrated in a blockbuster exhibition at the newly reopened Château d’Auvers-sur-Oise Along with the town’s more understated attractions it paints a fascinating portrait of a time when this little village was at the epicentre of art innovation unknown artist was painting canvasses that would one day be amongst the critics most beloved as Vincent would write to his brother Theo He was fresh from a turbulent stay in Provence which had ended with a year-long stint in a mental health institution and Theo had organised for a local Auvers doctor to watch over the troubled artist so he could retain his equilibrium and paint its thatched-roof cottages and setting on the pretty Oise River Ambitious to render all he saw in his own vivid terms – the countryside the local people – Vincent became a familiar fixture in the town He would start out every morning with his palette and oils Today you can follow in his footsteps, and quite literally see what he saw. Dotted around the town’s lanes and trails are panels that reproduce the works Van Gogh, painted in front of the scenes that they depict. The tourist office map is like a self-guided treasure hunt allowing visitors to wander the town’s any-which-way tracks A reproduction of Van Gogh’s painting Church at Auvers stands in front of the gothic cream-bricked chapel itself It offers a breath-taking moment of understanding and a new appreciation of the artist’s gift — how he remade reality Contemporary photos of the Bastille Day celebrations at the Auvers-sur-Oise town hall in 1890 show costumed locals music and merriment; Vincent’s painted version portrays the sad pretty fields just outside town seem another world from his melancholy take on them the artist returned to his room at the auberge with a bullet lodged in his chest He said it had been self-inflicted earlier that afternoon though there are more nefarious theories of how the bullet got there The Ravoux family who owned the inn called for Dr Gachet and wired Theo in Paris The artist died in in the early hours of Tuesday morning with his brother by his bedside Auberge Ravoux has been lovingly restored; the dining room with its wood panelling and zinc counter looks as it did in the late 19th century when Van Gogh took his meals here as part of his 3.50 francs per night lodging his room at the top of the stairs was never rented out again You can visit it today: at seven square metres its monastic air only adds to the sense of sadness ‘The Impressionist Vision’, a new multimedia exhibition housed in the stately Château d’Auvers-sur-Oise shows Van Gogh in a post-Impressionist context It’s hard to believe that in a world where Monet’s Water Lilies are printed onto tea towels and where paintings by Cezanne fetch hundreds of millions of dollars at auction Impressionism was once shunned by the art world floating video screens and a geo-located headset narrative the exhibition recounts how a group of renegade artists revolutionised painting and re-taught us to look It’s also a sensory immersion into the works themselves — you won’t ever get as close to standing inside an Impressionist painting as you can here Auvers’ small museums and historical sites layer this grand narrative with vivid personal touches. The Maison Atelier Daubigny is the former home of Auvers’ original great artist a celebrated pre-Impressionist who lived here from 1861 until his death in 1870 With its internal walls covered with charming murals by Daubigny it offers another kind of immersion into how artists lived here Vincent was a frequent guest of his friend Dr Gachet at what is now the Maison Docteur Gachet painting numerous works in the garden as well as portraits of the doctor himself A fascinating character well before his time Gachet was an art lover and early supporter of the Impressionists who also had a fascination with the diagnosis and treatment of nervous illnesses (he was one of the first to experiment with electro-shock therapy Auvers-sur-Oise fate was changed forever by the violent death of the strange foreign painter in the summer of 1890. The incident only received a minor mention in the local paper as Van Gogh was still unknown outside of artistic circles. That would change in 1901 with his first solo show in Paris. In the following decades, the genius of his vision and the tragic story of his life and death became legend. His humble resting place in the tiny cemetery just beyond the town brings the pilgrimage to a poignant end. His simple headstone sits cheek-to-cheek with that of his brother Theo, who died just six months after him. Ivy weaves a blanket over the two graves, binding them together, in this tiny graveyard surrounded by the fields that Vincent had brought to life for those intense last few weeks. The 95 is a multi-faceted département. For nature lovers, the Val d'Oise offers beautiful green expanses, promising bucolic strolls. History buffs, for their part, can set off to discover an unusual heritage the Val d'Oise is also a highly urbanized département particularly as it is home toCharles-de-Gaulle airport To help you get to grips with the treasures of the Val d'Oise we've put together a list of the places you need to visit most urgently as well as the current outings that await you We've put together a great program to help you get away from it all without leaving the Paris region stay tuned: this guide is updated as we make new discoveries and announcements To make sure you don't miss out on any ideas for outings in the Val d'Oise remember to keep this link safe and check the page regularly Fête de la Musique 2025 in Val-d'Oise (95)Looking to celebrate another Fête de la Musique in the Val-d'Oise? Join us on Saturday June 21, 2025, and discover the free concerts and special offers that await you throughout the département. [Read more] Where to eat in Val-d'Oise? Our best restaurant addresses in 95Looking for a good restaurant in Val-d'Oise? Treat yourself in the 95 département with our top addresses! [Read more] The superb parks and gardens of the Val d'Oise: places to stroll in 95Fancy a bucolic stroll in the Val d'Oise? Here's a list of the most beautiful parks and gardens in the 95 département. [Read more] Exhibitions to see in the Val d'Oise: current artistic eventsLooking for an exhibition in the Val d'Oise? You've come to the right place: find out all about the latest cultural events in the 95 region. [Read more] Alcohol abuse is dangerous for your health Artlyst Van Gogh In Auvers sur Oise: Visions of Genius – Mariella Guzzoni just enough to hold his most precious items Vincent boarded the train heading back North on May 16th After a few days in Paris he travelled to Auvers-sur-Oise a physician who was a friend of many artists and had been recommended to Theo by Camille Pissarro After a year spent in Saint-Rémy he couldn’t wait to get out of the clinic where the patients around him were left to vegetate in an “awful idleness” an imaginary disc that floods the large canvas in yellow He would never paint another sun – there is not a single sun depicted in the skies of the canvases he completed in Auvers In the last months of his life he became more prolific than ever before: more than one painting per day His Final Months is the title of the new exhibition that the Van Gogh Museum is dedicating to the Dutch genius in collaboration with the Musée d’Orsai (until 3 September 2023 – and in Paris Louis van Tilborgh (Van Gogh Museum) and Emmanuel Coquery (Musée d’Orsai) the exhibition brings together for the first time fifty paintings and many drawings with loans from thirty museums around the world and hitherto somewhat overlooked period of the painter’s life The series of ten panoramic landscapes painted in Vincent’s final weeks are one of the spectacular features of the show This once-in-a-lifetime exhibition celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of the Van Gogh Museum officially opened on June 2nd 1973 by Queen Juliana thanks to the dedicated work of its innovative multidisciplinary team of researchers the Museum has become an invaluable point of reference for Van Gogh’s studies This fundamental milestone will also be celebrated outdoors on June 2nd the venue hosting the Sunflower Art Festival Having spent a few days in Paris with Theo and his new family he found lodgings at the Café de la Mairie The countryside had a calming effect on him and now his masterpieces began to take shape An Old Vineyard takes on a fantastical and surreal aspect among the roofs This is the first big drawing that welcomes us into the exhibition and tells us that something inside Van Gogh was already changing that the new landscapes around him were inspiring him to experiment and try new things It’s not simply a drawing: Vincent “rewrites” it with his brush and so painting and writing merge with each other resulting in something totally new in his oeuvre among other things many old thatched roofs “we are far enough from Paris for it to be the real countryside because “of the development of a new society in the old one” From the mid 1800s onwards Auvers had become a destination for many painters and with the new railway station which opened in 1846 “artists could now explore the landscape around Paris much more readily with its picturesque villages and varied nature as Teio Meedendorp writes in his contribution to the catalogue At that time Jean-François Daubigny was “the artist most associated with the village”; but even before having a second home – made famous by Van Gogh – he navigated “up and down the river” in Le Botin to catch the changing reflections on the water by day and by evening was attracted by the houses – perhaps the home he himself never possessed Perhaps these roofs reminded him somewhat of Holland or rather the homes of the peasants of Nuenen which he had called “those human nests” And here the roofs of that “picturesque countryside” seem almost to melt and move with a new expressive potency – very different from the static solar glow of the Yellow House we all know so well in Farmhouses in Auvers-sur-Oise Van Gogh attempts a new approach to clouds He applies a white layer of paint in the upper part of the canvas which he cuts short to leave space for the billowing clouds we have to re-examine this work with fresh eyes; it is not an incomplete work The trees too are treated with the same decisiveness making their highest branches seem to undulate The locations of these paintings have been meticulously identified by Wouter van der Veen presents an illustrated map of Auvers indicating Vincent’s painting Far from “Parisian things à la Baudelaire” the little streets in the heart of the village offer many characteristic scenes and the first area the artist explored was right around the Ravoux inn or the home of doctor Gachet – who he called on often painting corners of greenery bursting with life and unexpected contrasts An intense red roof is seen below the raised garden of the doctor cutting diagonally across the composition; a shrub in the left foreground draws the viewer in a vase beside it seems to fall out of the canvas – the roofs of some cottages in the background finally orient us Dottor Gachet’s Garden is striking not just because of its audacious composition but also for its unusual proportions He simply describes it like this: “aloes with marigolds and cypresses” Vincent had learned how to construct his own and was experimenting with proportions inspired by prints of Japanese artists who were great masters of composing vertical landscapes The cobalt brushstrokes of the sky are laid quickly one after another and invade the cypresses bringing the background to the fore – thus cancelling out the sense of depth we had perceived from the cottage roofs beyond We find the same palette in the portrait section in the famous portrait of Doctor Paul Gachet who is shown leaning his elbow on a red lacquer table His face is scored by the marks of time and sadness Depicted in the classical pose of Melancholy his posture is so accentuated as to make him seem almost out of kilter In the first version of the portrait (not on show) the subject seems barely able to hold himself up the bust is positioned quite diagonally across the canvas Nothing is known of Vincent’s readings in the Auvers period But some books must certainly have been in those thirty kilos of luggage because in the first version of the portrait of Doctor Gachet on the same red lacquer table we see two novels Germinie Lacerteux and Manette Salomon by the Goncourt brothers Germinie Lacerteux was one of Vincent’s favourite novels a bitter mirror of his times – at the hospital in Arles he had even lent it to Reverend Salles who first thought the doctor “rather eccentric” soon came to consider him “a ready-made friend” nothing was better than a book to break the ice This was one of his communication strategies – it is indeed noteworthy that in the first letters of his both to Rappard (1881) and to Bernard (1887) we have no record of any literary conversations between Vincent and the Doctor saying it was the best thing to do in these “cases” “This week I’ve done a portrait of a young girl of 16 or so the daughter of the people where I’m lodging I gave her that portrait but I’ve done a variant for you writes Vincent to his brother on June 24th in her memoirs Adeline will describe Vincent as “a well-built man whose shoulders leaned a little towards the side with the injured ear but with a personality disinclined to communicate and he captures even this tiny detail masterfully which is unusual in Van Gogh’s French work lends Adeline the air of a Renaissance portrait” notes Nienke Bakker in her contribution to the catalogue Vincent continues here with his blue-on-blue experimentation as he had already began exploring with the doctor This is the only painting that he signed during his Auvers period this beautiful portrait has not been exhibited since 1955 as the days passed with exceptional productivity – some 60 paintings in six weeks the latest research done for this exhibition reveals – the clouds forming on the horizon were growing ever darker feeling that he was a burden on his brother Things were tense between Theo and Boussod & Valadon too and he was thinking of striking out on his own and opening a gallery; troubled times sadness invaded his mind: “once back here I too still felt very saddened and had continued to feel the storm that threatens you also weighing upon me” all works of one metre by fifty centimetres for a project which will remain a mystery: visions of grand horizons He neatly cut what he needed from the roll of canvas two meters and 14 centimetres tall and 10 meters long that he had received from Theo “The brush however almost falling from my hands and – knowing clearly what I wanted I’ve painted another three large canvases since then They’re immense stretches of wheat fields under turbulent skies and I made a point of trying to express sadness He no longer seeks the sun in the new horizons he seeks the essence of the things of the world the infinite in a symphony of green and yellow I hope – for I hope to bring them to you in Paris as soon as possible since I’d almost believe that these canvases will tell you what I can’t say in words what I consider healthy and fortifying about the countryside” Recent research with ‘Automated Canvas Analysis’ carried out on some 52 of the Auvers works contributed to reconstructing the sequencing of the cuts Vincent made from the roll of ‘Tasset et Lothe’ canvas Theo had sent him the curators have been able to date (day after day) even the thirteen canvases of one metre by fifty centimetres; the “double-squares” A format which “is notable because of its round figures unusual in its display of geometrical intention” it must have been a very deliberate decision Vincent had been struck by the monumental work of Puvis de Chavannes Inter Artes et Naturam While still in Holland he had created some drawings and paintings in an elongated format (following in the footsteps of Daubigny or the Dutch masters) Reconstruction of the thirteen ‘double-square’ canvases cut from the Tasset et Lhote roll of canvas the immense panorama of Vincent is brought together for the first time alongside each other in a sequence which reveals the evolution of his mysterious project for example he noticed that Marguerite Gachet at the piano “looks very good with another horizontal one of wheatfields” he made a sketch of this in his letter of June 28th (sadly the original is lost Since the beginning of his artistic career Vincent had created diptychs and triptychs – we have a lovely example in Arles he had in fact drawn a sketch of a triptych on a letter to Theo specifying that he had already painted “6 canvases” of the same theme and was trying “to finish them a little every day he had dedicated a group of nine paintings to the shores of the Seine Nonetheless we are now facing numerous canvases in an identical format but with very different subjects and we can only look back and forth along this long wall showing the visions of a genius So we see again Wheatfield with Crows (which popular myth insists on linking to the day of his suicide) presented in between Fields near Auvers and Wheatfield under Thunderclouds (illustrated above) The effect this has merits pause for reflection – they do indeed go well together A truly “extreme” solitude and poetic sadness emerge This new ‘language’ comes out more with each painting The treatment of space in the last paintings goes well beyond the forms he had typically used until then The work on rain seems almost woven in flat perspective has been abandoned – reinventing what he learnt from Japanese compositions Vincent draws inspiration from a real place It is not the undergrowth of the woods of Auvers The precise spot has recently been identified by Wouter van der Veen thanks to an old photograph Vincent had placed his easel on this roadside such a break with his own production had not been seen before – a vertiginous revolution We don’t find quotes from letters alongside the paintings this time the curators have decided to let the works speak for themselves But in the last section of the exhibition Vincent’s friends are given a voice “I do not need to tell you – you must be aware of it – how great an admiration I felt for the artistic qualities of the man you are mourning today I will therefore only add one word: men like him do not die entirely He leaves behind a body of work which is part of himself and which will make his name live again and again for eternity” In the final months of his life Vincent produced an exceptional body of work seeing them exhibited together is an experience that amazed even the show’s curators Vincent took up the themes nearest to his heart once again – landscape taking on a new challenge with Painting and with himself: intense experimentation on landscape The exhibition catalogue Van Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise is edited by Nienke Bakker Louis van Tilborgh (Van Gogh Museum) and by Emmanuel Coquery (Musée d’Orsai) A section is dedicated to the “Catalogue of Paintings from Auvers-sur-Oise” (Thames and Hudson 2023) Facts and Counterfacts about the World’s Most Famous Artist by Alan Turnbull examines the contradictions of Van Gogh’s mythologized existence (Thames & Hudson As It Is and as It Was  by Linda Seidel takes us to the places immortalized by Van Gogh and cherished by visitors and pilgrims For more on the story of the Van Gogh Museum with contributions of Fleur Roos Rosa de Carvalho Read More Visit Visit Olympic Membership - Free Live Stream Sports & Original Series - join now! 🥇 the Olympic Torch Relay returns to the Parisian region this Friday During these few days of celebration around the capital One thing's for sure: there'll be something for everyone View this post on Instagram A post shared by Paris2024 (@paris2024) The Relay will pass through 12 towns across the department where the festivities will be in full swing Throughout the 15 towns and cities it will pass through the Relay will travel through an atmosphere that promises to be one to remember with a departure from Orly airport at 8am and a finale in Créteil as the highlight of the day Sunday, March 28, in the early days of the Persian New Year, Maryam Rajavi visited the graves of the departed members of the National Council of Resistance of Iran and supporters of the Iranian Resistance in Auvers-sur-Oise and honored their memories Maryam Rajavi first visited the tomb of the national hero, PMOI pilot, Colonel Behzad Mo’ezzi paid homage to him and scattered flower petals on his grave The Art Newspaper's long-standing correspondent and expert on the Dutch painter stories range from newsy items about this most intriguing artist to scholarly pieces based on meticulous investigations and discoveries Explore all of Martin’s adventures with Van Gogh here The first-ever exhibition on Van Gogh’s period in Auvers-sur-Oise has opened in Paris, at the Musée d’Orsay. During the summer it was presented at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam so it will get well over 1m in the two venues putting it among the world’s most popular shows of the year Van Gogh’s Dr Paul Gachet (June 1890) and the Self-portrait (September 1889) given to Dr Gachet Van Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise: The Final Months (until 4 February 2024) includes 47 of the 74 surviving paintings he completed in the village which lies 30 kilometres north west of Paris Arriving on 20 May 1890 from the asylum in Provence completing a picture a day in an extraordinary burst of energy It is very unlikely that any future exhibition will have such a comprehensive collection of the Auvers paintings Just before the opening of Van Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise: The Final Months The majority of the “double squares” depict the vast wheatfields on the plateau above the village one feels the sense of isolation that Vincent suffered - and which helps to explain the fateful decision to end his life a fortnight or so before he picked up the gun Vincent wrote to his brother Theo that he had depicted “immense stretches of wheatfields under turbulent skies Much new research has gone into the Amsterdam-Paris show Among the surprises is the discovery of some very early frames for Van Gogh works and one has a label on the reverse showing that it was on a painting in a 1905 exhibition It is likely that the frames with slightly bevelled edges date from 1890 and it is even possible that they were made to the design of Van Gogh himself who favoured simple wooden surrounds over ornate gilded ones In 1905 Gachet’s son wrote that their frames were the bevelled ones used by Van Gogh The Gachet frames were inherited by the doctor’s son who in around 1950 gave them to a neighbour whose son donated them to Dominique-Charles Janssens the owner of the inn where Van Gogh had died Janssens has now lent one of the frames to the Musée d’Orsay exhibition and replicas were then made for four of the Van Goghs which had once been owned by Dr Gachet Van Gogh’s Thatched Cottages in Cordeville Auvers-sur-Oise (May-June 1890) in a replica of the early Gachet frame Paris (RMN Grand Palais/Patrice Schmidt; (Photograph: The Art Newspaper) It is revealing to compare the Gachet frame with the ornate one which the Musée d’Orsay had used on Thatched Cottages in Cordeville Auvers-sur-Oise (May-June 1890) until the current exhibition The ornate frame is distracting and appears to constrict the painting The simple wooden frame allows the painting to “breathe” Two ways to present a Van Gogh: The Musée d’Orsay’s ornate frame and the its new replica Gachet frame for Thatched Cottages in Cordeville Paris (RMN Grand Palais/Patrice Schmidt) (photograph: The Art Newspaper) I would thoroughly recommend a day trip to Auvers (about one hour by train) it was once home to the slightly earlier landscape painters Charles-François Daubigny Afterwards numerous later artists followed in Van Gogh’s footsteps The most moving site in Auvers is the inn where Van Gogh lodged, the Auberge Ravoux where one can visit the modest bedroom where he slept—and died Small numbers of visitors are allowed into the room on tours describes his visitors as “not really tourists Credit: Chabe01 via Wikimedia Commons the subject of one of Van Gogh’s finest Auvers paintings And five minutes further on is the cemetery where Vincent is buried next to his dear brother Theo Their twin graves are covered with a blanket of ivy Van Gogh’s Church at Auvers (June 1890) in its replica Gachet frame There are also three other key sites in Auvers. The Maison Gachet Gachet was a fascinating character - a doctor collector and amateur artist - and a visit to his home tells the story of his extraordinary life it is easy to understand why it attracted Van Gogh and his fellow artists The atmosphere on the “vieille Route” (old road now renamed Rue Daubigny) and in the fields on the plateau just above the village remain very much as they were in 1890 although the old thatched cottages have long gone It is revealing to compare Van Gogh’s landscape paintings in the Musée d’Orsay exhibition with the picturesque countryside around Auvers A few places where he worked can be seen today (such as Church at Auvers and Tree Roots) while other paintings so brilliantly capture the atmosphere But in Auvers he never slavishly depicted a scene he allowed his imagination free rein to create his masterpieces • For more on the story of the artist’s last months, see my book Van Gogh’s Finale: Auvers and the Artist’s Rise to Fame. Paris) and a version of The Bedroom (September 1889 Martin Bailey is a leading Van Gogh specialist and special correspondent for The Art Newspaper He has curated exhibitions at the Barbican Art Gallery Compton Verney/National Gallery of Scotland and Tate Britain To contact Martin Bailey, please email vangogh@theartnewspaper.com Please note that he does not undertake authentications Explore all of Martin’s adventures with Van Gogh here Paris and Amsterdam—plus a 50th birthday celebration for the Van Gogh Museum preview9 May 2023Van Gogh’s last paintings go on show in Amsterdam and Paris The two exhibitions are the first to highlight the artist’s productive final months in Auvers blog5 May 2023Van Gogh’s spectacular output: 60 paintings in six weeks, but he could not sell themAmsterdam exhibition reveals more about Vincent’s final days in Auvers blog21 April 2023The three top Van Gogh exhibitions of the year all open this MayShows in Amsterdam presenting the artist’s finest work done on the outskirts of Paris and in Provence the token of a struggling artist is an easy one to apply despite the depths of his despair – which is certainly in the welter of his life and work – it would seem to me that in Auvers-sur-Oise his artistic zenith came with a sort of liberation he had failed and been thrown around by life’s invisible bouncers everywhere he staggered after this endless scorning by the art world he wavered into the open arms of the French countryside and lived his life artistically like a man who had once been struck by lightning and now was happy to lie down smile and find peace in the storm that howled around him safe in the knowledge that it was statistically impossible for him to be struck by lightning once again he could lure the stars a little closer with the wand of his paintbrush wash the dark out the nighttime and cast the day with colours Peering out from Saint-Paul asylum at the canvas of his window he captured the shabby-chic sprawl of the tipsy French countryside and swirled the spires and stars into the dreamscape of ‘Starry Night’ With the moon bigger than foreground buildings and butter-coloured setting suns about to be pricked by the promontory of spiring trees his painting is one that captured the glossy-eyed peace of a soul who felt he was the last one awake in the entire slumbering town Insulated from the world like a merry drunk as it often does in the sleepy French town that spawned it wobbly buildings tumbling over themselves like old friends staggering home on drunken heels this rather more sanguine story is beginning to seed Irving Stone’s classic novel on the painter may have established the narrative that Don McLean wonderfully extolled when he sang “You took your life as lovers often do” but Auvers-sur-Oise puts forward an alternative that seems more appropriate of the peace that can be found there and it is far from a dreamy illusion either The work of biographers Steven Naifeh and Gregory White-Smith has uncovered various discrepancies in the old story of his final days Traditionally the tale was that he walked through town one morning with his easel and painting equipment in toe He began work in a field before deciding he had had enough later reawakening and walking back into town only to die in bed as a result of his wound The alternate story is one that has been held in Auvers-sur-Oise since it happened Vincent had become friends with a local boy As Van Gogh sat by his easel in the fields asking for tips and anecdotes about the various art scenes and galleries of Europe galleries where the works perched before them on Van Gogh’s easel would later hang and entice the dampened eyes of millions This friendship was a tonic to Van Gogh’s troubles the artist was happy to endure the endless pranks and teasing of Gaston’s younger brother René René Secrétan and other local lads would mock Van Gogh unendingly for his general eccentric appearance best described in a holistic sense as dog-eared They would prank the artist as he painted in the field lacquering the tip of the paintbrush that he would lick with chilli powder when he wasn’t around and generally bullying him René journeyed into Paris with his family to watch a Buffalo Bill show The young boy was so enamoured by the performance that when he returned to Auvers-sur-Oise complete with a working revolver in a pistol holster In the days immediately following Van Gogh’s fatal wounding the Secrétan boys were taken by their father to Paris René’s revolver was never to be seen again it is the view in Auvers-sur-Oise and corroborated by tireless research on the part of biographers Steven Naifeh and Gregory White-Smith that Vincent was shot accidentally after a quarrel between the two brothers and his final acts were to ensure that nobody was punished for the tragic catastrophe As his final words to his landlord hint: “Don’t accuse anyone.” this tale has been recited a thousand times over by locals who were once blessed to have a genius but much of Van Gogh’s idealised view of things seems to coat the streets with a glow it’s easy to see how he applied this philosophy to his brush in the honeyed belle of the town you can even see the world through his eyes by following in his footsteps and checking out the signposted spots where he perched his easel in front of the Church of Auvers and more It also seems strangely befitting that the town where he finally found peace should be the only residence of Van Gogh’s that remains perfectly intact it remains not only intact but unchanged to such an extent that the crumbling minimalism of his humble abode is like stepping into the canvas of his life for a moment It was in The Ravoux Inn that Van Gogh spent the last 70 days of life and it was from this fleeting space that some of his most eternalised works were whisked into creation In this town, bistros can serve the same dishes they offered up in 1876 in oak-clad dining rooms without ever feeling kitsch. The tasteful timeless ways of the artist who once frequented them still linger like a spiritual numen not one that pertains to following in the footsteps of Van Gogh — it resides in enjoying the same reverie in renewal that he euphorically slapped on to countless canvases the long-held narrative of Van Gogh’s life can be overturned on a whim surely paintings as full of wonder and awe speak of a man contented with the cathartic space he was able to splash out in front of him with nothing more than a serene view enjoyed with a sense of pillow-propped dreaminess and a few colours on his palette It is the impermanence of life and fleeting moments that makes it worth living makes it worth bottling into pictures and makes far-flung Parisian towns worth visiting and everything else etched into his paintings the simple joie de vivre of Van Gogh in France can be shared in while he was there: “Be clearly aware of the stars and infinity on high Then life seems almost enchanted after all.” Tuesday 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Secrets of decades-long Golden Owl treasure hunt to be revealed Lifestyle Inside Chanel's French leather workshops Culture Subscribers only The marvelous bronzes of Angkor on display at the Musée Guimet in Paris The Musée d'Orsay in Paris is exhibiting the artist's last paintings and drawings in which a new way of painting is revealed By Harry Bellet AMSTERDAM/VINCENT VAN GOGH FOUNDATION The tenacity of art lovers who endure long queues hoping to catch a glimpse of paintings through dense crowds must be applauded The exhibition at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris devoted to the last months' Vincent Van Gogh spent in Auvers-sur-Oise (Val-d'Oise) is far from being an exception to this rule: The museum's rooms have been packed from the very first day it opened to the public on October 3 as this exceptional exhibition offers the kind of ensemble that we will never see again Of the 74 paintings and over 50 drawings created by Van Gogh in the two months that led to his suicide on July 29 the museum brought together some 40 paintings and 20 drawings curator of the Musée Van Gogh in Amsterdam where the exhibition was previously shown between May and September and Emmanuel Coquery for the Musée d'Orsay have managed to borrow – the first time so many of them have been presented in the same place – 11 of the 13 "double-squares," a panoramic format specific to this period of the painter's life You have 86.61% of this article left to read Lecture du Monde en cours sur un autre appareil Vous pouvez lire Le Monde sur un seul appareil à la fois Ce message s’affichera sur l’autre appareil Parce qu’une autre personne (ou vous) est en train de lire Le Monde avec ce compte sur un autre appareil Vous ne pouvez lire Le Monde que sur un seul appareil à la fois (ordinateur En cliquant sur « Continuer à lire ici » et en vous assurant que vous êtes la seule personne à consulter Le Monde avec ce compte Que se passera-t-il si vous continuez à lire ici Ce dernier restera connecté avec ce compte Vous pouvez vous connecter avec votre compte sur autant d’appareils que vous le souhaitez mais en les utilisant à des moments différents Nous vous conseillons de modifier votre mot de passe Votre abonnement n’autorise pas la lecture de cet article merci de contacter notre service commercial “Auvers is seriously beautiful,” Van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo Visiting Van Gogh’s final resting place is like a pilgrimage Of course, no tour would be complete without a trip to the Auberge Ravoux (closed in 2021), known as the “House of Van Gogh”, where his room remains exactly as it was, and the House of Doctor Gachet who took care of the artist during his stay And then there are the landscapes immortalised by Van Gogh, which we can admire during a stroll through the village ending at the cemetery where the painter is buried next to his brother Théo surrounded by the wheatfields that inspired the artist’s last painting Now, let us turn our attention to the paintings themselves, with a trip to the Musée d’Orsay, home to the world’s second largest collection of Van Gogh’s work, with 24 paintings, the vast majority of them dating from the period the artist spent living in France. At the core of the Musée d’Orsay’s Van Gogh collection are nine paintings produced during the years he spent in the south of France, including Vincent’s Bedroom in Arles, Starry Night and Self-Portrait, 1889. From the final stage of Van Gogh’s life, in Auvers-sur-Oise, the museum has seven paintings, including Dr Paul Gachet and, of course, The Church at Auvers. Dominique-Charles Janssens inspects Van Gogh’s Garden at Auvers (June 1890) in a bank safe For over thirty years Dominique Janssens has been struggling to fulfil Van Gogh’s dream: to exhibit a painting in the inn where the artist lived for his final ten weeks This spring he came tantalisingly close to achieving the audacious goal Garden in Auvers (June 1890) was promised on short-term loan by the private owner who is believed to have been a Frenchman resident in Switzerland In June 1890 Vincent had written to his brother Theo: “One day or another I believe I’ll find a way to do an exhibition of my own in a café.” He was then staying in the Auberge Ravoux His letter to Theo was probably written downstairs In 1987 Janssens bought the building and its annexes, which until then had remained a café in the centre of the village, just north-west of Paris. He painstakingly restored the historic interior, opening it up to visitors as a tribute to the artist The highlight of the visit is entering the tiny attic bedroom where Van Gogh died on 29 July 1890, two days after shooting himself he turned his mind towards fulfilling the artist’s dream it would have very difficult to hang it in the downstairs café Instead a high-security glass cabinet was built upstairs in the much more secure bedroom Janssens describes it as “the smallest museum in the world” His latest plan was that Garden in Auvers would be displayed for two months earlier this year Janssens spent €400,000 on an upgrade a sophisticated surveillance system and the strictest fire precautions When I visited the inn a few weeks ago the security seemed to be what one might expect in a major museum Insurance cover was negotiated through the leading Brussels-based art specialist Eeckman Just four days before Garden at Auvers was due to be delivered Janssens received bad news: the owner’s agent was questioning the arrangements Since then there have been intensive discussions Garden at Auvers is still hidden away in a bank safe Van Gogh’s Garden at Auvers (Jardin à Auvers) (June 1890) Garden at Auvers is unusual among Van Gogh’s late work since it is more decorative and abstract than most of his landscapes composed partly of blocks of patterned colours with dotted highlights The perspective suggests a bird’s eye view The composition may well have been inspired by a visit to the garden of the deceased artist Charles-François Daubigny whose widow lived five minutes’ walk from the inn The painting has had a particularly chequered history in recent decades In 1992 it was bought by the banker Jean-Marc Vernes for the equivalent of $10m the picture was offered for auction in Paris but shortly before the sale there were claims in the media that it was a fake because it was an atypical Van Gogh and at that point there was uncertainty about its provenance Potential buyers were wary about buying a painting whose authenticity had been so publicly questioned Since then further research has clearly established that questions about its status were quite unfounded Garden at Auvers has been authenticated by Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum the recognised authority on the artist’s work sold Garden at Auvers through the Parisian auctioneer Marc-Arthur Kohn He died a few months ago and ownership then apparently passed to his two daughters But there is another element to complicate the Garden at Auvers story In 1989 the French government registered the painting as a national treasure which means that it cannot be exported from France Without this restriction a Van Gogh landscape of this quality might well be worth over €150m but as it cannot leave France permanently it is now valued at around half this sum Garden at Auvers was not the first painting which Janssens tried to borrow or buy to fulfil Van Gogh’s dream Van Gogh’s The Red Vineyard (November 1888) Van Gogh’s Landscape with Train (June 1890) In the 1990s he nearly secured the loan of a work from the Pushkin Museum in Moscow: either The Red Vineyard (November 1888) the international arrangement needed to be overseen by the French authorities They blocked a loan on the grounds that the inn was not a recognised museum In the early 2000s Janssens was optimistic about buying, rather than borrowing, a privately owned Auvers painting,The Fields (July 1890) Despite having secured corporate support from an American bank the price eventually proved an insurmountable barrier because of the financial crisis In 2017 the private owner put the picture up for auction at Sotheby’s Janssens with the reverse of Garden at Auvers the indefatigable Janssens has not given up: “I am still hoping that it may be possible to borrow Garden at Auvers or And I have my eye on several other of Van Gogh’s Auvers paintings which are in private collections to enter the room where Vincent lived and died blog3 November 2023Van Gogh exhibitions coming up in 2024, a blockbuster and a surpriseLondon’s National Gallery will top the bill with a spectacular display of paintings from Provence Adventures with Van Gogh is a weekly blog by Martin Bailey on loan from the Musée d’Orsay in Paris where the show will be presented in the autumn It is the cover image for the Amsterdam catalogue Cover of the catalogue for Van Gogh in Auvers: His Final Months (detail) Credit: Van Gogh Museum The Catholic church of Notre-Dame stands only five minutes’ walk from the inn in Auvers-sur-Oise where Van Gogh was staying in the early summer of 1890 The church’s hillside location means that the tower would have been visible from many of the places where he painted it seems a surprising choice of subject for him Van Gogh came from a Protestant family and had long ago abandoned organised Christianity so the religious significance of the Catholic church meant little to him Although it is an important Romanesque monument he was uninterested in imposing architecture Van Gogh may well have entered the church out of curiosity but its stone interior is unadorned and the few religious paintings would hardly have caught his eye On 4 June 1890 Van Gogh set up his easel in the churchyard which thrusts forward beneath the bell tower A comparison with early photographs shows that he depicted the scene reasonably accurately bringing the structure to life rather than conveying it as static architecture The result is a powerful work: whether or not intended the radiant church seems to exude spirituality Credit: Archives départementales du Val-d’Oise The diverging paths running along the sides are painted with powerful agitated brushwork in what were originally pinkish tones after the artist's red pigment has faded The picture derives its greatest impact from the sky a blend of shades of blue that grow deeper towards the top but the shadow cast by the apse confirms that it is a bright almost suggest that one can look through the church towards the sky Vincent described the picture to his sister Wil: “I have a larger painting of the village church – an effect in which the building appears purplish against a sky of a deep and simple blue of pure cobalt the stained-glass windows look like ultramarine blue patches Van Gogh’s The Old Tower (May 1884) Credit: Emil Bührle Collection There are striking parallels between this Auvers painting and Vincent’s depictions six years earlier of the church tower in the Brabant village of Nuenen Vincent told Wil that his latest picture was “almost the same thing as the studies I did in Nuenen of the old tower and the cemetery.” the huge differences between the Nuenen and Auvers paintings emphasise the dramatic development of Van Gogh’s style – moving from the sombre tones of his Dutch period to the bright palette and strong brushwork of his later French years Van Gogh’s Wheatfield with Crows (July 1890) What has gone largely unnoticed is the similarity of the paths in Church at Auvers with those in Wheatfield with Crows (July 1890) painted three weeks before Van Gogh shot himself The panoramic wheatfield picture is usually regarded as revealing something of his tortured mental state Although the configuration of the diverging tracks is similar the sunshine and human presence imparts a very different mood in Church at Auvers After Van Gogh’s suicide his coffin was held for a few hours in the inn with friends and neighbours arriving pay their last respects The coffin was then surrounded by his latest paintings The village church was asked to lend their hearse to enable Van Gogh’s body to be taken up the hill to the cemetery Although no longer a criminal offence in France it was still regarded as sinful by the Catholic Church who had cared for Van Gogh at the end of his life He hung Church at Auvers above his fireplace a simple style which Van Gogh would have appreciated After Dr Gachet’s death his son allowed very few specialists to view the picture and forbade it to be photographed The painting therefore remained largely a secret Gachet Jr transferred Church at Auvers to the Louvre in 1952 (and it later passed to the Musée d’Orsay) Although the Musée d’Orsay’s website records that this was paid by “an anonymous Canadian donation” we can report that it came from New York-born Princess Winnaretta Singer-Polignac but whose estate had passed to a Canadian entity after her death in 1943 The church building is now visited by thousands of visitors every week who come to see the spot where Van Gogh painted Church at Auvers They then end their pilgrimage by walking a little further up the hill to pay homage at the simple gravestones erected for Vincent and his brother Theo Van Gogh’s Poppies and Daisies (June 1890) The New York Times has investigated the fate of Poppies and Daisies (June 1890) which was sold at Sotheby’s in 2014 for $62m The article reveals that although Chinese entertainment businessman Wang Zhongjun was named as the buyer the ownership is apparently much more complicated There was an obscure middleman in Shanghai who paid the Sotheby’s bill through a Caribbean shell company The person he answered to was a Hong Kong billionaire apparently for bribery of officials and manipulating financial markets The New York Times reports that the Van Gogh is once again up for a privately arranged sale Although Poppies and Daisies was promised for Van Gogh in Auvers: His Final Months and is in the catalogue blog25 February 2022Revealed: Van Gogh landscape once owned by Yves Saint Laurent coming up for sale, valued at $45mChristie’s is to offer the never-exhibited painting in a New York auction in May Beijing slams CIA campaign to lure Chinese spies India tightens water control, shuts Chenab dams Trump bans US funding for Gain-of-Function Research in China 'Trained, ready for battle...': Women warriors of 1971 war Pahalgam horror: 'Design to serve political interests...' 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India-Pak face-off escalates, UN Chief urges calm MHA asks states to conduct mock drills on May 7 During the last weeks of Van Gogh’s life he got to know an Australian artist who had spent most of his life in Japan Until very recently Edmund Walpole Brooke remained an enigmatic figure but the Japanese Van Gogh specialist Tsukasa Kodera has now tracked down one of his watercolours It was bought in April for $45 by an American couple The watercolour’s lush landscape includes a woman in a kimono carrying a baby on her back as she leaves a traditional Japanese house it was purchased by Katherine and John Mathews of Scarborough a shop run by Kevin Keraghan in nearby Saco that sells second-hand furniture and collectables Keraghan acquired the painting about 15 years ago from an estate in Ossipee New Hampshire—from a family that had moved from southern California so this represents a potential link with the artist Edmund Brooke’s Japanese landscape with a mother and child hanging in the dining room of Katherine and John Mathews's home to hang in their dining room (it has subsequently been moved) She investigated the signature and this led her to Kodera a professor of art history at Osaka University who has been researching Brooke Edmund Brooke’s signature in the framed Japanese landscape with a mother and child Courtesy of John Mathews Kodera believes that it is highly probable that the watercolour is indeed by Vincent’s friend But more research is needed to be absolutely sure.” Only one other Brooke painting has been identified by Kodera: a Japanese garden scene with a woman feeding chickens It was sold some years ago by the Redfern Gallery in Laguna Beach and then disappeared into a private collection Just a small photograph is known and the picture bears close similarities with the watercolour in terms of subject matter (its signature is barely visible) So who was Brooke—and what was his link to Van Gogh Brooke’s English parents moved to Yokohama His father was a journalist on an English-language newspaper in Japan In Edmund’s late-teens he set out to become an artist probably studying under the Yokohama-based English illustrator Charles Wirgman (the creator of a Japanese version of Punch) In 1885 Brooke set off for Paris to study art eventually being taught by the highly successful painter Jean-Léon Gérôme when Van Gogh was living in the village of Auvers-sur-Oise Brooke (then aged 24) was there to work and the two men met Vincent informed his brother Theo in early July: Brooke “has been here in Auvers for months and we went out together sometimes [to paint] you would never think so from his painting.” Presumably Vincent meant that Brooke’s style was quite unlike that of Japanese prints would certainly have quizzed Brooke about life and culture in Japan Brooke must have been one of the few people he met who had spent most of their life in Japan Vincent was less enthusiastic about his friend’s paintings Apart from a couple of references in the Van Gogh correspondence the only other documentary evidence of Vincent’s links with Brooke is a business card which was discovered tucked into one of Vincent’s sketchbooks Brooke probably left the card when he visited Theo’s apartment in January 1891 to see Vincent’s paintings Walpole Brooke Courtesy of the Van Gogh Museum The business card includes Brooke’s handwritten note of his address in Auvers-sur-Oise: the Hotel du Cadran (its restaurant survived until just a few years ago) Although the handwriting is rather different from Brooke’s signature on the watercolour artists’ signatures on paintings are often stylised and different from their normal handwriting Little is known about Brooke’s artistic career but he exhibited two paintings in Summer Exhibitions at London’s Royal Academy of Arts (Notre Dame de Paris at Night in 1890 and Miss *** the following year) Brooke returned to Yokohama in the early 1890s and continued to paint for a few years but later took up work as a proofreader for the Japan Daily Herald Kodera has discovered that Brooke seems to have married a Japanese woman with the surname Seki (or had a relationship with her) and together they had a daughter Yokohama was completely destroyed by the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923 although his house must have been burnt in the ensuing fire who discovered the artist's grave in the city’s Municipal Foreign Cemetery may well have been the first person to pay homage at Brooke’s resting place since the year of the funeral He placed a bouquet of sunflowers and roses on the grave Brooke’s grave at the Municipal Foreign Cemetery This week Kodera recalled: “At the cemetery I could not help imagining the loneliness of the man who was probably deprived of all his possessions—possibly even works he had been given by Van Gogh—by the devastating earthquake.” And as for the newly discovered watercolour it could be that the figures are Brooke’s Japanese wife and infant daughter little Ume would die when she was just six Detail of Brooke’s Japanese landscape with a mother and child Courtesy of John Mathews blog21 December 2018The most important Van Gogh discoveries, exhibitions, sales and books of 2018From the discovery of a Montmartre drawing to a $40m sale at Christie's blog29 October 2021Van Gogh’s favourite artists: how did they influence his own work?Steven Naifeh writes about the painters Vincent admired—and collects their pictures Full Screen1 / 8Previous photoNext photoPeople look at Vincent Van Gogh's oil on canvas painting during the press day of the "Van Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise: The Final Months" exhibition at the Musee d'Orsay in Paris The exhibition opens for the public from Oct The new Van Gogh exhibition concentrated on the two months before his death at age 37 on July 29 is both extraordinary and extraordinarily painful because this brief period was one of the artist's most productive but was also his last (AP Photo/Michel Euler)A man looks at Vincent van Gogh's oil on canvas painting at the "Van Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise: The Final Months" exhibition at the Musee d'Orsay in Paris (AP Photo/Michel Euler)The painting palette used by Vincent Van Gogh for the painting "Marguerite Gachet at the Piano" is displayed at the "Van Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise: The Final Months" exhibition at the Musee d'Orsay in Paris (AP Photo/Michel Euler)Christophe Leribault president of the Orsay museum speaks to the media during the press day of the "Van Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise during press day at the "Van Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise: The Final Months" exhibition at the Musee d'Orsay in Paris (AP Photo/Michel Euler)Emmanuel Coquery curator of the exhibition "Van Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise: The Final Months" speaks to the media next to Vincent van Gogh's oil on canvas painting Street in Auvers-sur-Oise (AP Photo/Michel Euler)A man photographs Vincent Van Gogh 's oil on canvas "Thatched Cottages of Cordeville at Auvers-sur-Oise" (AP Photo/Michel Euler)People walk past Vincent Van Gogh's oil on canvas painting "Adeline Ravoux" during the press day at the "Van Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise: The Final Months" exhibition at the Musee d'Orsay in Paris (AP Photo/Michel Euler)Copyright 2023 The Associated Press People look at Vincent Van Gogh's oil on canvas painting PARIS – Planted in a field riotous yellows and sumptuous blues to his will “Wheatfield with Crows,” bursts off the canvas like technicolor champagne Art historians believe the Dutch master painted it on July 8 Van Gogh then churned out another stunning work the very next day of more wheat fields under thunderous clouds the mind's eye can imagine the artist working frenetically amid the sashaying stalks then came yet another Van Gogh marvel — a painting of a tidy garden with a prowling cat the artist appears to have headed back to the fields likely having risen early as was his habit painting them spotted with blood-red poppies At age 37 and the height of his powers, Van Gogh was splurging out genius at a rate of a painting a day. But less than three weeks later A new exhibition at Paris' Orsay Museum that focuses on Van Gogh's last two months before his death on July 29 is extraordinary and extraordinarily painful — because this final period in the artist's life was also one of his most productive The tragic paradox of the unprecedented assemblage of paintings and drawings is that it shows Van Gogh on fire creatively just as his life was tick-tick-tocking to its fateful end After a year's stay in a psychiatric hospital which he entered voluntarily a few months after cutting off his left ear Van Gogh had resettled in the French village of Auvers-sur-Oise It had picturesque landscapes that also inspired Paul Cézanne And it had a doctor who specialized in depression throwing himself into his work to not dwell on his mental illness After arriving May 20 in Auvers and checking into an auberge Van Gogh immediately got busy with his brushes and paints apparently polishing off at least seven paintings of houses and set up in front of the subject he’d identified He would paint all morning and go back to work in the studio in the afternoon,” Coquery said For the exhibit titled “Van Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise: The Final Months,” the Musée d'Orsay which boasts the world's richest collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist art has assembled around 40 of Van Gogh's paintings and about 20 drawings from this fleeting It took four years of research and persuasion to liberate valuable works on loan from other museums and collections with the Orsay clinching deals by also loaning some of its pieces in return The exhibit includes 11 paintings that Van Gogh painted on unusual elongated canvases 50 centimeters tall (30 inches by 19.6 inches) — give the paintings a dramatic it is the first time the 11 paintings have been shown together was first shown at Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum earlier this year They include the masterful “Wheatfield with Crows,” loaned from Amsterdam with its foreboding black birds that can almost be heard caw-cawing as they take flight is “Tree Roots,” in part because it is thought to be Van Gogh's last work He is thought to have painted it on July 27 before shooting himself in the chest that evening Van Gogh managed to get back to his room but died two days later Two American authors cast doubt on this account in 2011 suggesting the artist was shot by two teenage boys But the ultimately fatal suicide attempt is the version more widely believed In the painting's jumble of tree roots in blues that wrestle for attention with the greens of shaggy undergrowth and the browns of soil a Dutch researcher pinpointed the exact location where Van Gogh painted the work a discovery that shed new light on the anguished artist's final hours the poetry of Sylvia Plath or the graffiti wildness of New York artist Jean-Michel Basquiat the Van Gogh show forces the question: What other marvels would he have left had he lived longer Yet being able to experience the world through Van Gogh's eyes with his colors and scenes so alive that they seem to breathe the show is a mind-blowing combination of regret and awe "Van Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise: The Final Months" runs at the Musée d'Orsay through Feb rewritten or redistributed without permission TV Listings Email Newsletters RSS Feeds Closed Captioning / Audio Description Contact Us Careers at WPLG Terms of Use Privacy Policy Public File FCC Applications EEO Report Do Not Sell My Info 1.0 Host Exhibit Copyright © 2025 Local10.com is published by WPLG INC. Unless you are a devoted fan of Vincent Van Gogh you probably haven’t heard of Auvers-Sur-Oise rests about an hour’s train ride from Paris The picturesque spot inspired many Impressionist Masters: Van Gogh They all variously lived and worked in Auvers-Sur-Oise.  My Viking Seine River and Normandy Cruise included an excursion to the small town I am so thankful I took the opportunity to visit this town and learn about its history Auvers is where Vincent Van Gogh lived the last two months of his life in 1890 The area gave him such a source of creativity that he completed 80 paintings in 70 days The building looked like someone decorated it for Bastille Day with red A guide met my group and began to lead us along Before strolling down residential cobblestone streets we passed a few cutesy shops and restaurants we came upon shuttered homes with lace curtains hanging in the windows and flower boxes in bloom outside.  We traveled along a discreetly marked Van Gogh Trail and stopped at the Eglise Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption but it held a copy of the well-known painting “the building appears to be violet-hued against a sky of simple deep blue color pure cobalt; the stained-glass windows appear as ultramarine blotches and sand with the pink flow of sunshine in it.” The Viking tour group continued up a hill to the town cemetery where we found the ivy-covered graves of Vincent and his brother Theo but the prevailing thought is suicide since he suffered from mental problems He was supposed to be under a doctor’s care History says he shot himself in the fields and made it back to his room in the auberge (a French inn that provides meals) His brother was called and came from Paris Theo wanted to organize a funeral in the church at Auvers but the priest refused as Vincent was protestant and committed suicide.  we noted the fields that inspired another Van Gogh masterpiece: The Wheatfield and Crows.  Only two or three people at a time could enter his tiny It was barely large enough to fit a small cot and seemed filled with an aura of sadness Hard to think of such a colorful artist living in cramped and drab quarters.  The tour at Auberge Ravoux also included an excellent video/slideshow of his art from the region I found it easy to imagine the scenes through the artist’s eyes.  The way Vincent died doesn’t truly matter; what matters is that the world lost the creative genius who gave us “Starry Night” and “Sunflowers.” Vincent was only 37 years old Visit www.bylandersea.com to read more of local travel writer Debi Lander’s stories and travel tips Photo courtesy Debi LanderBeautiful village of Auvers Learn how to describe the purpose of the image (opens in a new tab) Leave empty if the image is purely decorative Essential digital access to quality FT journalism on any device Complete digital access to quality FT journalism with expert analysis from industry leaders Complete digital access to quality analysis and expert insights complemented with our award-winning Weekend Print edition Terms & Conditions apply Discover all the plans currently available in your country Digital access for organisations. Includes exclusive features and content. See why over a million readers pay to read the Financial Times. You don't have permission to access the page you requested. What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed. The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam is about to open the first comprehensive exhibition devoted to the last stage of the artist’s career his short stay in the village of Auvers-sur-Oise It was there that he shot himself on 27 July 1890 There is always great interest in the last phase of a major artist’s life Yet although Van Gogh’s two years in Provence have been much studied until recently his Auvers period has been comparatively neglected at the Musée d’Orsay (3 October-4 February 2024) The exhibition curators have meticulously dated all his surviving 74 Auvers paintings the total stood at roughly sixty paintings” Perhaps growing depression (and the larger size of some of the later pictures) accounts for a fall-off in the following four weeks The Amsterdam and Paris museums have been astonishingly successful in corralling the loans The Van Gogh Museum has nine in its permanent collection and there are seven at the Musée d’Orsay the latter from the early 1950s donation by Dr Paul Gachet who cared for the artist in his last weeks These Gachet works have only been lent very rarely so the Amsterdam show will be an extremely unusual opportunity to see them in a wider context The remaining 32 Auvers paintings are from collections around the world. Seven are from private lenders, which means that they are rarely shown. These include Garden in Auvers-sur-Oise (June 1890) which is much more stylised than most of his landscapes Strenuous efforts were made to try to unite all 13 of Van Gogh’s “double-square” canvases (0.5m x 1m) These large-scale works include many of his finest late paintings Only two proved impossible to borrow: Marguerite Gachet at the Piano (June 1890 Kunstmuseum Basel) and Daubigny’s Garden (July 1890 which were blocked after Putin’s invasion of Ukraine The three Auvers works in Russian museums are Thatched Cottages(May 1890) Saint Petersburg) and Landscape with Carriage and Train (June 1890 The greatest Auvers painting in private hands is the first version of the portrait of Dr Paul Gachet (June 1890). After selling for $82.5m in 1990, it was bought by a Japanese owner and later acquired by a mysterious European collector who has done their utmost to remain anonymous Another of the exhibition’s contributions to scholarship has been to track down the locations depicted in the landscape paintings Van Gogh’s Rain - Auvers-sur-Oise (July 1890) Two of the places depicted in the “double-square” paintings have now been properly identified thanks to new research by Wouter van der Veen was painted from the other side of the River Oise near Méry Tate’s Farms near Auvers-sur-Oise (July 1890) is a scene in the hamlet of Cordeville An 1887 photograph of the Cordeville location suggests that Van Gogh used artistic licence to add another building in the centre of his composition Van Gogh’s Farms near Auvers-sur-Oise (July 1890) Van Gogh also produced nine large drawings and 48 smaller studies in Auvers and most are hardly known by the public and have never been comprehensively studied as a group The most personal sketch is Baby in a Pram (June 1890) It probably depicts the artist’s four-month-old nephew The infant was brought to Auvers on a day visit to Auvers by his parents probably depicting his four-month-old nephew Vincent The comprehensive Amsterdam and Paris exhibitions are curated by Nienke Bakker Teio Meedendorp (all Van Gogh Museum) and Emmanuel Coquery (Musée d’Orsay) Their catalogue also tackles the question of Vincent’s fragile mental health and eventual suicide It was startling in 2011 when a biography of Van Gogh argued that he was shot by a 16-year-old boy in Auvers The exhibition curators dismiss this as an entirely unfounded suggestion a conspiracy theory: “When a person feels compelled to end their own life the least they deserve is to be heard with empathy Recognising signals and acknowledging pain always matters Had Van Gogh’s life not ended so tragically how would his art have evolved after Auvers For more on the story of the artist’s last months, see my book Van Gogh’s Finale: Auvers and the Artist’s Rise to Fame. Both Christie’s and Sotheby’s are auctioning Van Gogh drawings of two men both done at almost the same time and with the same dimensions The drawings have each been in their respective families since the 1960s and have very rarely been exhibited Van Gogh’s Orphan man with a Top Hat in his left Hand (Weesman met een hoge hoed in zijn linkerhand) (September-December 1882) coming up at Christie’s / Sower (Front View) (December 1882) Christie’s is offering Orphan man with a Top Hat in his left Hand in New York on 13 May It has been in the family of the New York-based publicist Benjamin Sonnenberg since 1961 Sotheby’s has Sower (Front View)(December 1882) Van Gogh’s orphan man (almshouse man) or his sower blog9 September 2022Van Gogh exhibitions in 2023: we reveal the hot tickets coming up worldwide Highlight shows in Chicago blog22 December 2022Van Gogh in 2022: record prices, top shows and exciting discoveriesPlus the best books on Vincent and the artist's booming immersive experiences This image of a postcard made available by the Van Gogh Museum shows a faded picture postcard featuring a man standing next to a bicycle on a back street of the village of Auvers-sur-Oise which has led a Dutch researcher to what is now thought to be the exact location depicted in the troubled artist’s final work “Tree Roots,” which he painted on the day he suffered a fatal gunshot wound on July 27 This image made available by the Van Gogh Museum shows Van Gogh’s last painting: Tree Roots A faded picture postcard featuring a man standing next to a bicycle on a back street of the village of Auvers-sur-Oise has led a Dutch researcher to what is now thought to be the exact location depicted in the troubled artist’s final work France (AP) — The exact location where Dutch master Vincent van Gogh painted his last work has been pinpointed after being hidden in plain view for years among a tangle of roots next to a rural lane near Paris Experts say the discovery sheds new light on the anguished painter’s mental state on the day he is widely believed to have fatally shot himself A Dutch researcher realized that the scene depicted in the troubled artist’s final work “Tree Roots,” was visible on a faded picture postcard featuring a man standing next to a bicycle on a back street of the village of Auvers-sur-Oise Van Gogh spent the last weeks of his life in the village and completed dozens of paintings there the card even included the name of the street scientific director of the Van Gogh Institute in France provides a new glimpse of the artist in his final hours It means art historians can now see that Van Gogh worked on the painting until the end of the afternoon meaning he spent much of the day concentrating on the canvas told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Wednesday which is not considered to have been completed by Van Gogh Gordenker said its composition and execution — a tight focus on gnarled roots on a hillside — have led to it being seen as a “harbinger of abstraction.” Van Gogh never got to further develop the painting style According to the museum’s version of Van Gogh’s life after working on “Tree Roots” the artist walked into a nearby field of wheat later in the day and shot himself in the chest with a pistol Two American authors cast doubt on the theory in 2011 Van der Veen believes the museum’s version of events and agrees his new discovery shows that Van Gogh had his wits about him and was methodical in his thinking before he pulled the trigger to kill himself “So the final steps were also something he carefully thought about,” he said While stuck at home during France’s two-month lockdown Van der Veen used the extra time to organize his numerous files and documents on Van Gogh including digitizing images such as the old postcard from Auvers-sur-Oise he saw the card on his computer screen and it suddenly struck him that he was looking at the location of “Tree Roots.” Next to the man and his bicycle He wasn’t able to visit the site for several weeks but had a friend in the village visit and also took a virtual trip down the lane using Google’s Street View Villagers know the spot and the main tree root well even giving it the name “the elephant” because of its shape ”It was really hiding in plain sight and it was even a little bit disguised as it had taken another identity,” he added The researcher says that while his discovery has given art historians more to mull about Van Gogh’s last working day it also provides tourists with an extra reason to visit Auvers-sur-Oise The French village already draws tens of thousands of visitors each year because of its links to Van Gogh who spent his final weeks there and is buried in the village’s cemetery alongside his brother “They travel a lot just for one reason — to walk in the footsteps of Vincent van Gogh — and now they can stand at the very place where he painted his last painting,” Van der Veen said “And that’s a very moving thing for a lot of people So I’m very happy to be to be able to share that with all those who love Van Gogh.”