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Vincent van Gogh | Houses at Auvers, 1890

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"Houses at Auvers" is an oil painting by Vincent van Gogh, located at the Toledo Museum of Art.
It was created towards the end of May or beginning of June 1890, shortly after he had moved to Auvers-sur-Oise, a small town northwest of Paris, France.
His move was prompted by his dissatisfaction with the boredom and monotony of asylum life at Saint-Rémy, as well as by his emergence as an artist of some renown following Albert Aurier's celebrated January 1890, Mercure de France, review of his work.
In his final two months at Saint-Rémy, van Gogh painted from memory a number of canvases he called, "reminisces of the North", harking back to his Dutch roots.
The influence of this return to the North continued at Auvers, notably in The Church at Auvers.
He did not, however, repeat his studies of peasant life of the sort he had made in his Nuenen period. His paintings of dwellings at Auvers encompassed a range of social domains. | Source: © Wikipedia

Vincent van Gogh | Houses at Auvers, 1890 | Toledo Museum of Art

From Toledo Museum of Art:
"Auvers is very beautiful, among other things a lot of old thatched roofs, which are getting rare…for really it is profoundly beautiful, it is the real country, characteristic and picturesque", Vincent van Gogh wrote to his brother and sister-in-law after the painter’s arrival in Auvers-sur-Oise on 20 May 1890.
Working in a hamlet called Chaponval in the western part of Auvers, Van Gogh painted a cluster of dwellings nestled amid walled gardens and trees silhouetted against a gray-blue, cloudy sky.

These homes still exist (though now altered) along the Rue de Gré.

The juxtaposition of the blue tiled roof of the central cottage with the thatched roofs of the other houses doubtless intrigued Van Gogh (he in fact made a related reference to such a comparison in one of his letters).
He varied his brushstrokes in order to call attention to the differing textures.
He used sideways strokes for the roof of the central house to suggest the appearance of its tiling, while he applied downward strokes to evoke the thick bundles of thatching.
In contrast, the vegetation throughout is represented with Van Gogh’s typical curvilinear, animated forms. | Source: Toledo Museum of Art


"Auvers è molto bella, tra l'altro molti vecchi tetti di paglia, che stanno diventando rari… perché è davvero profondamente bella, è il vero paese, caratteristico e pittoresco", scrisse Vincent van Gogh al fratello ed alla sorella -legge dopo l'arrivo del pittore ad Auvers-sur-Oise il 20 maggio 1890.
Lavorando in un villaggio chiamato Chaponval nella parte occidentale di Auvers, Van Gogh dipinse un gruppo di abitazioni immerse tra giardini cintati ed alberi che si stagliavano su un grigio-blu, cielo nuvoloso.
Queste case esistono ancora (sebbene ora modificate) lungo la Rue de Gré.

La giustapposizione del tetto di tegole azzurre della casetta centrale con i tetti di paglia delle altre case ha senza dubbio incuriosito Van Gogh (in una delle sue lettere ha infatti fatto un riferimento correlato a tale confronto).
Ha variato le sue pennellate per richiamare l'attenzione sulle diverse trame.
Ha usato tratti laterali per il tetto della casa centrale per suggerire l'aspetto della sua piastrellatura, mentre ha applicato tratti verso il basso per evocare gli spessi fasci di paglia.
Al contrario, la vegetazione è rappresentata con le tipiche forme curvilinee ed animate di Van Gogh. | Fonte: Toledo Museum of Art

Vincent van Gogh | Houses at Auvers, 1890 | Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

In May 1890, van Gogh moved from the south of France to Auvers, northwest of Paris, painting many of his finest pictures there in a feverish spurt of activity before his suicide in July.

"Houses at Auvers" shows the landscape of early summer.
The view from above creates a flattened tapestry of shapes in which the tiled and thatched roofs of the houses form a mesmerizing patchwork of color. | Source: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Vincent van Gogh | Houses at Auvers, 1890 | Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Nel maggio 1890, van Gogh si trasferì dal sud della Francia ad Auvers, a nord-ovest di Parigi, dove dipinse molti dei suoi quadri più belli in un impeto febbrile di attività prima del suo suicidio a luglio.

"Houses at Auvers" mostra il paesaggio dell'inizio dell'estate.
La vista dall'alto crea un arazzo appiattito di forme in cui i tetti di tegole e paglia delle case formano un affascinante patchwork di colori. | Fonte: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston