How France Changed Van Gogh's Palette

Paris: Learning Color (1886–1888)

When Vincent arrived in Paris in 1886, his palette was still the brown and gray of his Dutch years, the colors of The Old Church Tower at Nuenen. Two years among the Impressionists and the pointillists, and the Japanese woodblock prints he collected, changed everything. You can follow the shift in his self-portraits, more than twenty of them, in the windmills of Montmartre and the view from Theo's apartment, and in still lifes like Piles of French Novels. The cut Sunflowers of 1887 come from this time too: he was painting sunflowers in Paris a year before the famous series in Arles.

Arles: Orchards and the Yellow House (1888–1889)

In Provence, he found the light he had been looking for. Spring 1888 gave him The Pink Orchard, The White Orchard and The Pink Peach Tree; summer, the fishing boats at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, La Mousmé and Starry Night Over the Rhône. Then came the Yellow House, his bedroom inside it, painted again in 1889, and Gauguin's Chair, painted during their two difficult months together. Their yellows and deep blues bring warmth to a white wall.

Saint-Rémy and Auvers: The Last Two Years

At the asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, he painted irises, olive groves, wheat fields with cypresses and the corridors of the hospital itself. Bad weather or illness kept him indoors at times, and he made free copies after Millet. In Auvers-sur-Oise, in the summer of 1890, he worked at the pace of about a painting a day: the village church, the portrait of Dr. Gachet, Girl in White and the green wheat fields around the village. These late works carry a movement that keeps a calm room from feeling static.

Choosing and Hanging Your Van Gogh Posters

Starry Night Over the Rhône and an orchard in blossom make a natural pair, one cool and one warm. For a single piece, a large landscape above a sofa or a bed holds the wall on its own, and the Paris still lifes suit a kitchen or a reading corner. Natural oak frames go well with the earthy tones of Provence, while black metal sharpens the contrast of the night scene and the self-portraits.

Paper, Frames and Delivery

Every Van Gogh print is reproduced on 200 g/m² FSC-certified matte paper, whose glare-free surface keeps the detail of his brushwork easy to read. Choose it unframed, or in a black metal, white oak or natural oak frame; framing is included at no extra cost, and framed prints arrive ready to hang after an extra 2 to 4 business days. Custom sizes are available on request, and each order is printed by our partner closest to you, in Europe, the UK, the US, Canada, Australia or New Zealand.