-
Van Gogh’s final years exhibition extended for another year
It will be closed from September 30 to October 18 for additional works to be hung
-
Multi-million euro private art collection to be auctioned in Paris in October
Furniture pieces will also be sold alongside paintings
-
9 French expressions to use when there is hot weather
From 'the sun is like lead' to 'cooking like a pancake', here are some phrases to use as the temperature soars across France
Exhibition showcasing Van Gogh’s last works opens in Paris
The 50 paintings and 20 drawings were made during the two months leading up to his suicide when he was producing a work a day
A new exhibition showcasing 50 paintings that Vincent Van Gogh produced during the prolific last two months of his life in Auvers-sur-Oise, Val-d'Oise, has opened at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris today (October 3).
The Dutch post-impressionist master produced 73 paintings and 33 drawings - more than one a day - during two months in the village north-west of Paris before he took his own life on July 27, 1890.
The painter is buried in the village’s municipal cemetery, beside his brother and art dealer Theo whom he had moved to be closer to as Theo lived in Paris.
The exhibition is the first to cover this period of Van Gogh’s life, and includes 50 of the paintings produced during this time as well as 20 drawings.
Several of the works are considered to be masterpieces, such as Portrait of Dr. Gachet, The Church at Auvers, and Wheat field with crows.
Indeed, it was in a wheat field near the village that Van Gogh put a pistol to his chest, mortally wounding himself.
Watch the Musée d’Orsay's presentation of the exhibition here:
Van Gogh is more generally associated with the south of France, where he lived for two years, in Arles.
Auvers-sur-Oise offered the Dutch master a different colour palette: deeper greens and slate greys rather than the golden light of sun-kissed Arles.
“Auvers is really beautiful – among other things many old thatched roofs, which are becoming rare,” wrote Van Gogh to his brother Theo on May 20, 1890.
‘Van Gogh à Auvers-sur-Oise: Les derniers mois’ will run in the Musée d’Orsay until February 4, 2024.
Related articles:
Absinthe, corkscrews, santons: 8 unusual museums to visit in France
Paris museum thwarts activist’s attempt to throw soup over painting
'Paintings from Van Gogh were not designed to float around people'