Van Gogh À Auvers-Sur-Oise : Les Derniers Mois

Exhibition at the Musée d'Orsay, 3 October 2023 - 4 February 2024

"These paintings will tell you what I cannot say in words." Vincent Van Gogh, 10 July 1890.

Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) moved to Auvers-sur-Oise to be closer to Paris and his brother Theo, but only spent two months there, from 20 May 1890 until his death on 29 July. Auvers was chosen because of the presence of Dr Gachet, a doctor specialising in the treatment of melancholy, who was also a friend of the Impressionists, a collector and an amateur painter.

However, this brief period saw an artistic revival, with his own style and development, marked by psychological tension but also by the creation of some of his greatest masterpieces. Van Gogh explored every aspect of the new world that was opening up to him, while at the same time wrestling with multiple concerns linked to his crises, his health, his relationship with his brother and his place in the art world. In two months, the painter produced 74 paintings and 33 drawings, including emblematic works such as Le Docteur Paul Gachet, L'église d'Auvers-sur-Oise and Champ de blé aux corbeaux.

Featuring around forty paintings and twenty drawings, this catalogue of the first exhibition devoted exclusively to Auvers-sur-Oise highlights this final and crucial stage in van Gogh's career. It also includes a series of paintings in an elongated double-square format, unique in van Gogh's oeuvre.