Vincent van Gogh, The Pink Orchard

1888

Vincent van Gogh, The Pink Orchard

1888

Paintings sorted by     Historical period   |   Painter   |  Subject matter   |  Pigments used

van-gogh-the-pink-orchard

Medium: Oil
Support: Canvas
Size: 64.5 x 80.5 cm

Art period: Post-Impressionism
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
F 555

In the spring of 1888, van Gogh wrote: ‘I’m in a fury of work as the trees are in blossom and I wanted to do a Provence orchard of tremendous gaiety.’ (See letter to Theo van Gogh, 3 April 1888). He worked on tirelessly: in barely a month he painted an entire series of flowering trees, done in loose brushstrokes.

Pigments

Pigment Analysis

This pigment analysis is based on the work of the scientists of the Centraal Laboratorium voor Voorwerpen van Kunst en Wetenschap which is currently the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (1).

 

1 – Discoloured red in the blue tree in the left part of the painting: carmine cochineal lake
2 – Light pink blossom, the top part of the painting: carmine cochineal lake
3 – Branch in the upper right edge: emerald green,  lead white, zinc white, unidentified yellow pigment, carmine cochineal lake, vermilion
4 – Green in the grass, brown at the surface: chrome yellow, Prussian blue, yellow synthetic organic lake
5 – Yellow in the grass: lead white, chrome yellow, synthetic yellow organic lake
6 – Red strokes in the grass: carmine cochineal
7 – Dark red from a tree branch: carmine cochineal lake
8 – Blue sky: lead white, zinc white, viridian, Prussian blue

 

References

(1) J.H. Hofenk de Graaff, M.F.S. Karreman, M. de Keijzer, W.G.T. Roelofs, Scientific Investigation, in: Cornelia Peres, Michael Hoyle, Louis van Tilborgh,  A Closer look: Technical and art-historical studies on works by Van Gogh and Gauguin, Waanders Publishers 1991.

Resources

Videos

Video: Vincent van Gogh in Arles: Orchards' by van Gogh Museum

Publications and Websites

Publications

(1) Cornelia Peres, Michael Hoyle, Louis van Tilborgh,  A Closer look: Technical and art-historical studies on works by Van Gogh and Gauguin, Waanders Publishers 1991.