Almond Blossom
Currently on view
Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890), Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, February 1890
oil on canvas, 73.3 cm x 92.4 cm
Credits (obliged to state): Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
Large blossom branches like this against a blue sky were one of Van Gogh’s favourite subjects. Almond trees flower early in the spring making them a symbol of new life. Van Gogh borrowed the subject, the bold outlines and the positioning of the tree in the picture plane from Japanese printmaking.
The painting was a gift for his brother Theo and sister-in-law Jo, who had just had a baby son, Vincent Willem. In the letter announcing the new arrival, Theo wrote: ‘As we told you, we’ll name him after you, and I’m making the wish that he may be as determined and as courageous as you.’ Unsurprisingly, it was this work that remained closest to the hearts of the Van Gogh family. Vincent Willem went on to found the Van Gogh Museum.
- F-number
- F0671
- JH-number
- JH1891
- Object number
- s0176V1962
- Dimensions
- 73.3 cm x 92.4 cm, 94.0 cm x 112.9 cm
- Provenance
- Sent by the artist from Saint-Rémy-de-Provence to his brother Theo van Gogh, Paris, at the end of April 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; transferred by Vincent Willem van Gogh, Laren, on 10 July 1962 to the Vincent van Gogh Foundation, Amsterdam; 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)
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Exhibition ‘Choosing Vincent’
The painting Almond Blossom will be on view in the exhibition Choosing Vincent in the Exhibition Wing from 10 February until 10 April 2023.
Pianist Remko Kühne composed a special piece inspired by ‘Almond Blossom’ in which you hear the blossom open, from a small bud to a beautiful flower.
