CLEVELAND — A new exhibit showcasing four works by Vincent Van Gogh is now available to visit at the Cleveland Museum of Art.
The exhibit features two masterpiece paintings and two works on paper. One of the paper works of art is an etching—the only one Van Gogh ever created.
The exhibit is available to view at the Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Gallery.
Here's a look at each piece of art in the exhibit:
The Large Plane Trees (Road menders at Saint-Rémy)
Vincent Van Gogh | Cleveland Museum of Art
Van Gogh captured the yellowing leaves on fabric with a pattern of small red diamonds, visible in the picture’s many unpainted areas. After painting this composition Van Gogh used it to produce a second version in the studio known as The Road Menders at Saint-Rémy (Phillips Collection, Washington, DC). Painted on a traditional canvas covered by a ground layer, the second version is more restrained, the yellows balanced by larger areas of cool color.
Two Poplars in the Alpilles near Saint-Rémy
Vincent Van Gogh | Cleveland Museum of Art
Two Poplars in the Alpilles near Saint-Rémy is an autumnal landscape revealing the full power of Van Gogh’s mature style. Trees twist and lean against a darkening sky, while the intense colors applied with charged brushstrokes convey his emotional reaction to the subject.
Dr. Gachet
Vincent Van Gogh | Cleveland Museum of Art
Dr. Gachet is the only etching the artist created. The artist placed himself under the care of Dr. Gachet in Auvers-sur-Oise, a small village on the northern outskirts of Paris, at the recommendation of fellow artist Camille Pissarro. The doctor was himself an amateur printmaker and gave Van Gogh a varnished copper plate, helping him to print it on his own small hand press. For his first attempt, Van Gogh depicted Gachet seated in his garden smoking a pipe.
Landscape with Wheelbarrow
Vincent Van Gogh | Cleveland Museum of Art
Landscape with Wheelbarrow is an early watercolor the artist created while living in Drenthe, a village in northeastern Netherlands without modern industry. Van Gogh described the barren terrain as beautiful and serene. Created with a limited palette of green and blue, Van Gogh portrayed one of the region’s open fields illuminated by the lilac hues of the evening sky. Working with the medium, he experimented with the visible brushstrokes that would later characterize his oil paintings.
“With the public’s recent increased interest in Vincent van Gogh, we wanted to take this opportunity to showcase a selection of real masterworks by the artist,” said William M. Griswold, director of the CMA. “We look forward to welcoming our visitors to this free installation.”
The museum recently announced that they will be requiring all employees, volunteers and contractors working on-site at the museum to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Nov. 1. Visitors do not need to be vaccinated, but face coverings are required inside the museum, per a policy that has been in effect at CMA since Aug. 10.
