1889.05 – 1890.05
The World in Motion
The brushwork began to swirl.
Technique
The directional parallel strokes of Arles gave way to serpentine, undulating, vortex-like organic marks — what art history has come to call the swirl. Impasto reached its period peak, locally approaching 5mm: less like paint than relief. The palette narrowed but intensified — viridian, ultramarine, chrome yellow, and lead white dominated; vermilion and crimson receded. Compositionally, vertical cypresses serve as anchors against the opposed curves of mountains and wheat fields. Subject matter became intensely repetitive: 15+ olive tree paintings, the cypress series, the wheat field series — the same motif revisited, again and again, as if looking long enough would unlock it. The copy project ran in parallel: 30+ translations of Millet, Delacroix, Rembrandt, Doré, and Daumier, their monochrome prints repainted in oil. He called this *translating*, not copying.
Causes
He entered Saint-Paul-de-Mausole voluntarily on May 8, 1889. Three or four major attacks came during the year; painting was impossible during each. Between attacks, he was extraordinarily productive. The asylum walls limited subject matter — window views, the enclosed garden, the olive groves nearby. Theo mailed colour tubes without interruption. Copy work served as both therapy and a form of meditation: letter 805 (September 1889), "I treat it like playing music by another composer." On January 31, 1890, his nephew Vincent Willem was born; he painted *Almond Blossom* as a gift — an outlier in this period, with flat colour fields and the Japanese influence restored: tender and still.
Representative works
- *The Starry Night* (F612 / JH1731, June 1889): swirl period centrepiece; painted from the window, from memory - *Wheatfield with Cypresses* (F615 / JH1755, September 1889): a vortex that is also landscape - *Irises* (F608 / JH1691, May 1889): painted in the first week of the asylum stay - *Self-Portrait* (F627 / JH1772, September 1889): his face embedded in a blue-green swirling ground - *Olive Trees series* (15+ works, June–November 1889): colour variation experiments within a single subject - *Almond Blossom* (F671 / JH1891, February 1890): gift for his newborn nephew — flat painting and Japanese revival - *Pietà* (after Delacroix, F630 / JH1775, September 1889): copy period representative - *Sower* (after Millet, F689 / JH1837, October 1889): the same motif revisited across periods
Letter evidence
- Letters 776–877: entire asylum correspondence - Letters 800–810 (September 1889): the expansion of the copying project - Letter 805 (September 1889): "I treat it like playing music by another composer" - Letter 851 (February 1890): *Almond Blossom* explained, for the newborn nephew
Transition
On May 16, 1890, he left the asylum. He stopped in Paris for three days to see Theo, Jo, and the infant Vincent Willem — the first and only time he would see that child. On May 20 he arrived in Auvers-sur-Oise. Northern light was waiting.
Curve Landing Points
The World in Motion: the swirl
The World in Motion: Period peak — locally up to 5mm, approaching relief
The World in Motion: viridian, ultramarine, chrome_yellow, lead_white
The World in Motion: 92
The World in Motion: total: ~150 paintings in 12 months, copies: 30+ translations of Millet/Delacroix/Rembrandt/Doré/Daumier
Period Evidence Network
Which works turn this period’s curve metrics into clickable evidence.
Representative Works
The Starry Night Window view from memory — Swirl period centerpiece Colour Representative of the changed colour system Impasto Visible impasto and thick brushwork Brushstroke Representative of swirling brushwork Open node · Starry Night over the Rhône 
Wheatfield with Cypresses Impasto Visible impasto and thick brushwork Brushstroke Representative of swirling brushwork Open node · Cypresses 
Irises First week of asylum Impasto Visible impasto and thick brushwork Brushstroke Representative of swirling brushwork Open node · Irises 
Self-Portrait Blue-green swirl background Brushstroke Representative of swirling brushwork Open node · The Self-Portraits 
Olive Trees series Color variation within single subject Colour Representative of the changed colour system Brushstroke Representative of swirling brushwork Open node · The Olive Groves 
Almond Blossom Gift for nephew — flat painting + Japanese revival Open node · Almond Blossom 
Pieta (after Delacroix) Copy period representative Open node · The Saint-Rémy Copies 
Sower (after Millet) Same motif revisited from earlier periods Open node · The Saint-Rémy Copies Site curatorial model. Verifiable facts now carry source notes; estimated curves remain model values.