Vincent van Gogh - Village Street and Steps in Auvers with Figures 1890

Village Street and Steps in Auvers with Figures 1890
Village Street and Steps in Auvers with Figures
Oil on canvas 49.8 x 70.1 cm. Auvers-sur-Oise: late May, 1890
St. Louis: The Saint Louis Art Museum

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From The Saint Louis Art Museum:
The brilliant color, thick application of paint, and swirling brushstrokes all contribute to Vincent van Gogh's individual style. In Van Gogh's landscapes everything seems to be moving. In this painting brushstrokes sweep from the stairway in the center out to all sides of the canvas; the women sway back and forth like the curvy path they are walking down; and the stairway appears to be sliding down the hill. This painting of a street is filled with the bright blues, greens, and yellows of early spring, and the texture of the brushstrokes makes you want to touch the painting. Van Gogh was inspired by the old buildings in Auvers (oh-VAIR) and by the countryside around this town where he lived and painted during the last months of his life.

The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

Theo and Jo van Gogh-Bonger to Vincent van Gogh. Paris, Friday, 31 January 1890. Printed announcement of birth.
Vincent
Mr and Mrs Theo van Gogh-Bonger are honoured to inform you of the birth of their son Vincent Willem.
Paris, 31 January 1890
8, cité Pigalle.

To John Peter Russell. Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Saturday, 1 February 1890.
My dear friend Russell
Today I’m sending you a little roll of photographs after Millet which perhaps you may not know.
In any event, it’s to recall us, my brother and myself, to your good memory. Do you know that my brother has since married and that any day now he’s expecting his first-born? May it go well – he has a very nice Dutch wife.
How it pleases me to write to you after a long silence.

Do you remember the time when, almost simultaneously, you I think first and I afterwards, met our friend Gauguin? He’s still struggling on – and alone, or almost alone, like the good fellow he is. Am sure, though, that you don’t forget him.
He and I are still friends, I can assure you, but perhaps you’re not unaware that I myself am ill, and have more than once had serious nervous crises and delirium. This was why, having had to go into an asylum for the insane, he and I separated. But prior to that, how many times we talked about you together! Gauguin is currently still with one of my fellow-countrymen called De Haan, and De Haan praises him a great deal and doesn’t find it at all bad to be with him.
You will find article on canvases of mine at the Vingtistes, I assure you that I myself owe a lot to things that Gauguin told me as regards drawing, and hold his way of loving nature in high, very high esteem. For in my opinion he’s worth even more as a man than as an artist. Are things going well with you? And are you still working a lot?
Although being ill isn’t a cause for joy, I nevertheless have no right to complain about it, for it seems to me that nature sees to it that illness is a means of getting us back on our feet, of healing us, rather than an absolute evil.
If you ever come to Paris, take one of my canvases from my brother’s place if you wish, if you still have the idea of making a collection for your native country one day. You’ll remember that I’ve already spoken to you about it, that it was my great desire to give you one for this purpose. How is our friend MacKnight? If he’s still with you, or if there are others with you whom I’ve had the pleasure of meeting, give them my warm regards. Above all, please remember me to Mrs Russell and believe me, with a handshake in thought,
Yours truly,
Vincent van Gogh

c/o Doctor Peyron
St-Rémy en Provence.