The Large Plane Trees (Road Menders at Saint-Rémy)
Like Two Poplars in the Alpilles near Saint-Rémy (on view nearby), Vincent van Gogh painted this autumnal landscape while living in a psychiatric hospital near Saint-Rémy in southern France where he was treated for severe depression. Understanding that painting from nature eased his symptoms, Van Gogh’s physician permitted the artist to paint landscapes outside. Van Gogh described this painting in a letter to his brother Theo: “The last study I did is a view of the village, where they were at work under some enormous plane trees—repairing the pavements. . . . There are heaps of sand, stones...
Details
- Palette
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Select a color to find related artworks.
- Medium
- oil on fabric
- Dimensions
- framed: height 1.045 m, width 1.245 m, depth 0.076 m; unframed: height 0.734 m, width 0.918 m
- Origin
- Netherlands
- Department
- Modern European Painting and Sculpture
- Holding institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Image provider
- cleveland-museum-of-art
- License
- CC0-1.0
- Credit
- Gift of the Hanna Fund
Art Genome Taxonomy
8 tags
Subject Matter
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Landscapes Both · 99%
The composition is dominated by an outdoor village street, mature trees, earth, construction materials, and buildings; the museum identifies the work as a landscape near Saint-Rémy.
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Work and Workers Both · 98%
Small figures are visible among the roadwork, and the museum description identifies workers repairing pavements beneath the trees.
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The Seasons Both · 97%
Yellow and ochre foliage is prominent in the image, and the museum explicitly describes the work as an autumnal landscape.
Visual Qualities
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Dense Composition Visual · 96%
Tree trunks, branches, foliage, buildings, figures, road surfaces, and stone piles occupy nearly the entire picture plane.
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Earth Tones Visual · 90%
Ochres, browns, muted greens, and sandy yellows form a substantial part of the palette, alongside blue and gray accents.
Medium and Techniques
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Large Brushstrokes/Loose Brushwork Visual · 99%
Visible directional strokes articulate bark, branches, foliage, stones, and ground, producing a strongly worked painted surface.
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Oil Painting Metadata · 99%
The Cleveland Museum of Art records the medium as oil on fabric.
Time Periods
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Late 19th Century Art Metadata · 99%
The museum dates the work to 1889, placing it in the late nineteenth century.
Source & rights
Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853–1890). The Large Plane Trees (Road Menders at Saint-Rémy). Cleveland Museum of Art.