Olive Grove
Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890), Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, November 1889
oil on canvas, 73.2 cm x 92.2 cm
Credits (obliged to state): Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
From 30 November 2024 until 5 May 2025 this painting is on view in the exhibition How Van Gogh Came to Groningen at the Groninger Museum.
The olive groves around Saint-Rémy were a rewarding subject for Van Gogh. He was fascinated by the ever-changing colour of the olive trees and tried to find a good way of painting their irregular growth. His solution was to use swirling brushstrokes, bold outlines around the trunks and stylized blue shadows.
Van Gogh made his paintings of olive groves just after his friends Paul Gauguin and Émile Bernard had painted a number of religious scenes. They created those works from their imaginations. Van Gogh disagreed with that approach. He felt that reality should always be the starting point: 'My ambition is truly limited to a few clods of earth, some sprouting wheat. An olive grove,' he wrote to Bernard.
- F-number
- F0707
- JH-number
- JH1857
- Object number
- s0045V1962
- Dimensions
- 73.2 cm x 92.2 cm, 88.9 cm x 108.1 cm, 8.5 cm
- Provenance
- Sent by the artist from Saint-Rémy-de-Provence to his brother Theo van Gogh, Paris, at the beginning of January 1890; after his death on 25 January 1891, inherited by his widow, Jo van Gogh-Bonger, and their son, Vincent Willem van Gogh, Paris; administered until her death on 2 September 1925 by Jo van Gogh-Bonger, Bussum/Amsterdam/Laren; given on loan by Vincent Willem van Gogh, Laren to the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, from 1927 to 1930; given on loan by Vincent Willem van Gogh to the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, since 22 October 1931; transferred by Vincent Willem van Gogh, Laren, on 10 July 1962 to the Vincent van Gogh Foundation, Amsterdam (ratified 28 December 1970); agreement concluded between the Vincent van Gogh Foundation and the State of the Netherlands, in which the preservation and management of the collection, and its placing in the Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh, to be realized in Amsterdam, is entrusted to the State, 21 July 1962; given on loan until the opening of the museum on 2 June 1973 to the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; on permanent loan to the Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh from 2 June 1973 and at the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, since 1 July 1994.
- artist
- Vincent van Gogh
- Credits (obliged to state)
- Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
Groningen, Groninger Museum, Hoe Van Gogh naar Groningen kwam, 30 November 2024-5 May 2025, no. 5.4
Minneapolis, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Van Gogh and the Olive Groves, 25 June-18 September 2022, no. zonder nr.
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Van Gogh en de olijfgaarden, 11 March-12 June 2022, no. 11
Dallas, Dallas Museum of Art, Van Gogh and the Olive Groves, 17 October 2021-6 February 2022, no. 11
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Munch : Van Gogh, 24 September 2015-17 January 2016, no. 35
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Copenhagen, Ordrupgaard Museum, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Bernard. Dramaet i Arles, 7 February-22 June 2014, no. 152
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Van Gogh aan het werk, 1 May 2013-13 January 2014, no. zonder nr.
Amsterdam, Hermitage Amsterdam, Vincent. Het Van Gogh Museum in de Hermitage Amsterdam, 29 September 2012-25 April 2013, no. 132
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Van Goghs brieven. De kunstenaar aan het woord, 9 October 2009-3 January 2010, no. zonder nr.
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Van Gogh & Bernard: een kunstenaarsvriendschap, 26 October 2007-27 January 2008, no. zonder nr.
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Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Van Gogh te gast in het Rijksmuseum. Meesterwerken van het Van Gogh Museum, 19 September 1998-2 May 1999, no. zonder nr.
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Glasgow, Burrell Collection, The Age of Van Gogh. Dutch Painting 1880-1895, 10 November 1990-10 February 1991, no. 34
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh, Vincent van Gogh. Schilderijen, 30 March-29 July 1990, no. 108
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Van Gogh in St. Rémy and Auvers, 12 November 1986-22 March 1987, no. 43
Tokyo, Seibu Museum of Art, 100 years of Dutch painting : highlights from the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 29 March-13 May 1986, no. 6
Amagasaki, Tsukashin Hall, 100 years of Dutch painting : highlights from the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 21 February-23 March 1986, no. 6
Shimonoseki, Shimonoseki City Art Museum, 100 years of Dutch painting : highlights from the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 4 January-11 February 1986, no. 6
Iwaki, Iwaki City Art Museum, 100 years of Dutch painting : highlights from the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 16 November-22 December 1985, no. 6
Niigata, Niigata City Art Museum, 100 years of Dutch painting : highlights from the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 13 October-10 November 1985, no. 6
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Tokyo, National Museum of Western Art (Tokyo), Vincent van Gogh exhibition, 30 October-19 December 1976, no. 78
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Baltimore, Baltimore Museum of Art, Vincent van Gogh. Paintings and Drawings, 11 October-29 November 1970, no. 57
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Saint Louis, City Art Museum of Saint Louis, Vincent van Gogh. Paintings and Drawings, 20 December 1969-1 February 1970, no. 57
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Ostend, Musée des beaux-arts (Oostende), Europa 1900, 3 June-30 September 1967, no. 401
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Stockholm, Moderna Museet, Vincent van Gogh. Målningar, akvareller, teckningar, 23 October-19 December 1965, no. 46
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Manchester (England), Manchester City Art Gallery, Vincent van Gogh. Paintings & Drawings, Mainly from the Collection of Ir. V.W. van Gogh, 17 December 1955-4 February 1956, no. 69
Liverpool, Walker Art Gallery, Vincent van Gogh. Paintings & Drawings, Mainly from the Collection of Ir. V.W. van Gogh, 29 October-10 December 1955, no. 69
Antwerp, Feestzaal Antwerpen, Vincent van Gogh, 7 May-19 June 1955, no. 301
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Zurich, Kunsthaus Zürich, Vincent van Gogh, 9 October-21 November 1954, no. 61
Assen, Provinciehuis, Vincent van Gogh in Assen, 7-29 November 1953, no. 25
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London, Tate Gallery, Vincent van Gogh 1853-1890. An Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings, 10 December 1947-14 January 1948, no. 73
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