1889.05 – 1890.05

The World in Motion

The brushwork began to swirl.

Technique

At Saint-Rémy, the mark no longer simply followed the object. It bent, undulated and turned, enlarging the movement of the whole image. Cypresses, olive trees and wheat fields were revisited repeatedly; translating Millet, Delacroix and Rembrandt became a way to turn monochrome images back into colour.

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

Brushstroke the swirl

The World in Motion: the swirl

The Starry Night Wheatfield with Cypresses

Sources Van Gogh Museum / Unravel Van Gogh · Thick brushstrokes Impasto, visible thick brushstrokes under raking light, and the pencil-contour-to-paint workflow. Van Gogh Museum · Exhibition: Van Gogh in Auvers The highly productive Auvers months, often more than one painting a day, and experiments in colour, brushwork, formats and subjects.

Impasto 5mm

The World in Motion: Period peak — locally up to 5mm, approaching relief

The Starry Night Wheatfield with Cypresses

Sources Van Gogh Museum / Unravel Van Gogh · Thick brushstrokes Impasto, visible thick brushstrokes under raking light, and the pencil-contour-to-paint workflow.

Colour 8 / 10

The World in Motion: viridian, ultramarine, chrome_yellow, lead_white

The Starry Night Wheatfield with Cypresses

Sources Van Gogh Museum · What Type of Paint Did Van Gogh Use? Oil paint, new synthetic colourings, and the 19th-century growth of ready-to-use tubed paints. Van Gogh Museum · Exhibition: Van Gogh in Auvers The highly productive Auvers months, often more than one painting a day, and experiments in colour, brushwork, formats and subjects.

Format 92cm

The World in Motion: 92

The Starry Night Wheatfield with Cypresses

Sources Musee d'Orsay · Van Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise 70 days, 74 paintings, and 13 double-square canvases: 12 landscapes and one portrait, 50 cm x 1 m. Van Gogh Museum · 5x Van Gogh in Auvers The final-weeks 50 cm x 1 m landscapes: a new canvas format he had not used before, at least 12 of them. Vincent van Gogh: The Letters · Letter 881 10 June 1890 from Auvers: removing canvases from stretchers, rolling them, and imagining a self-exhibition.

Speed 12 / month

The World in Motion: total: ~150 paintings in 12 months, copies: 30+ translations of Millet/Delacroix/Rembrandt/Doré/Daumier

The Starry Night Wheatfield with Cypresses

Sources Musee d'Orsay · Van Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise 70 days, 74 paintings, and 13 double-square canvases: 12 landscapes and one portrait, 50 cm x 1 m. Van Gogh Museum · Exhibition: Van Gogh in Auvers The highly productive Auvers months, often more than one painting a day, and experiments in colour, brushwork, formats and subjects. Vincent van Gogh: The Letters · Letter 898 10 July 1890 from Auvers: after returning from Paris he had painted three more large canvases and described the wheatfields.