A twisted oak tree dominates this rocky, windswept landscape. This site is in the south of France, three miles northeast of Arles near the ruined medieval Abbey of Montmajour. Although van Gogh made many drawings of the abbey, The Rocks is his only painting of the countryside near Montmajour. He was so moved by these surroundings that he wrote an evocative letter, dated July 5, 1888, to his brother Theo:
Yesterday at sunset I was on a stony heath where some very small twisted oaks grow; in the background, a ruin on a hill, and wheat in the valley. It was romantic…the sun pouring bright yellow rays on the bushes and the ground, a perfect shower of gold. And all the lines were lovely, the whole thing nobly beautiful. You would not have been surprised to see knights and ladies suddenly appear, coming back from hunting or hawking, or to have heard the voice of some old Provençal troubadour. The fields looked violet, the distances blue.¹
The oak tree rises in the center of the painting, dominating the composition. Van Gogh directs attention to the tree by its large size, its central placement, and the contrast of its dark leaves against the pale sky. Typical of van Gogh’s style are the prominent brushstrokes of thick paint, which create a rich texture and sense of vitality, focusing attention on the flat surface of the painting. Layers of oil paint are built up on the canvas, giving a sculptural quality to the rocks and trees.
In van Gogh’s art, color is an important expressive element. Here the palette relies on cool blues and greens and warm yellows and oranges to capture the sunny landscape. The harmony of colors is appropriate for the “romantic” mood and “nobly beautiful” effect the landscape evoked for van Gogh. The whites, creams, pale blues, and soft pink and peach tones describe the light-filled sky.
Although Vincent van Gogh’s paintings are now among the most famous and sought-after, he did not achieve success during his lifetime. Van Gogh was born in Holland in 1853. His father was a strict Calvinist preacher, but three of his uncles were art dealers and Vincent grew up knowing and loving art. At the age of 26, van Gogh began painting. In 1886 he moved to Paris, where he was influenced by the loose brushwork and bright colors of the Impressionists. Financed by his brother Theo, in 1888 van Gogh moved to Arles in the south of France. During a period of extraordinary artistic productivity interspersed with bouts of insanity, he produced a large number of works, including The Rocks. On July 29, 1890, Vincent van Gogh shot himself. He died two days later.
Before moving to Arles, where he painted The Rocks, Van Gogh spent time in Paris visiting some of the early exhibitions of the Impressionists and seeing the work of artists such as Degas, Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, and Seurat. During his time in Paris he became friends with the artist Paul Gauguin. While van Gogh was influenced by the methods of the Impressionists, his work explored the symbolic and expressive value of color, rather than atmosphere and light. For additional information about Impressionism, see Gustave Caillebotte’s The Orange Trees.
- Ronald Pickvance, Van Gogh in Arles (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1984), p. 118.
