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Almond Blossom
Vincent van Gogh · Post-Impressionism & Neo-Impressionism
- Artist
- Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890)
- Date
- 1890
- Dimensions
- 73.3 x 92.4 cm
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Location
- Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Almond Blossom shows branches of a flowering almond tree against a clear blue sky, seen from below. Van Gogh painted it in February 1890 at Saint-Rémy, as a gift for his brother Theo and Theo’s wife Jo, to celebrate the birth of their son, named Vincent after him.
A closer look
Almond trees are among the first to blossom in the south of France, and so they stand for new life and hope. Van Gogh painted the white and pink flowers and the twisting branches with firm outlines against the flat blue background, a style clearly influenced by Japanese prints. There is no ground and no horizon, only the branches floating in the sky. The picture hung above the baby’s cot; the nephew later founded the Van Gogh Museum, where it hangs today.
More by Vincent van Gogh
In this gallery
The Potato Eaters
The Red Vineyard at Arles
Café Terrace at Night
Portrait of Dr Gachet
Van Gogh’s Bedroom in Arles
A Wheatfield, with Cypresses
Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear and Pipe
Sunflowers
Starry Night Over the Rhône
The Starry Night
Irises
Wheatfield with Crows
Wheat Field with Cypresses