The Church At Auvers on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
''The Church at Auvers'' is an oil painting created by
''The Church at Auvers'' is an oil painting created by Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
post-impressionist
Post-Impressionism (also spelled Postimpressionism) was a predominantly French art movement that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905, from the last Impressionist exhibition to the birth of Fauvism. Post-Impressionism emerged as a reaction ag ...
artist Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2 ...
in June 1890 which now hangs in the Musée d'Orsay
The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) ( en, Orsay Museum) is a museum in Paris, France, on the Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French art ...
in Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, France.
The actual church is in Place de l'Eglise, Auvers-sur-Oise
Auvers-sur-Oise (, literally ''Auvers on Oise'') is a commune in the department of Val-d'Oise, on the northwestern outskirts of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is associated with several famous artists, the most promine ...
, France, north-west of Paris.
History
''The Church at Auvers'' — along with other canvases such as ''The Town Hall at Auvers
''The Town Hall at Auvers'' is a painting by Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Wester ...
'' and several drawings of small houses with thatched roofs — is reminiscent of scenes from his Nuenen period. A certain nostalgia for the north had already been apparent in his last weeks in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence
Saint-Rémy-de-Provence (; Provençal Occitan: ''Sant Romieg de Provença'' in classical and ''Sant Roumié de Prouvènço'' in Mistralian norms) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Southern France. L ...
: in a letter written a couple of weeks before his departure, he wrote "While I was ill I nevertheless did some little canvases from memory which you will see later, memories of the North."
He specifically refers to similar work done back at Nuenen
Nuenen () is a town in the municipality of Nuenen, Gerwen en Nederwetten in the Netherlands. From 1883 to 1885, Vincent van Gogh lived and worked in Nuenen. In 1944, the town was a battle scene during Operation Market Garden. The local dialect i ...
when he describes this painting in a letter to his sister Wilhelmina on 5 June 1890:
The "simple deep blue" was also used in '' Portrait of Adeline Ravoux'', painted in the same short period in Auvers-sur-Oise.
The foreground of ''The Church at Auvers'' is brightly lit by the sun, but the church itself sits in its own shadow, and "neither reflects nor emanates any light of its own." After Van Gogh had been dismissed from the evangelical career he had hoped to continue in the Borinage
The Borinage () is an area in the Walloon province of Hainaut in Belgium. The name derives from the coal mines of the region, ''bores'' meaning mineshafts. In French the inhabitants of the Borinage are called Borains.
The provincial capital ...
, Belgium, he wrote to his brother Theo from Cuesmes
Cuesmes (; wa, Cweme) is a village of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Mons, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium.
The famous artist, Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Du ...
in July 1880, and quoted Shakespeare's
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
image from ''Henry IV, Part 1
''Henry IV, Part 1'' (often written as ''1 Henry IV'') is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written no later than 1597. The play dramatises part of the reign of King Henry IV of England, beginning with the battle at ...
'' of the dark emptiness inside a church to symbolize "empty and unenlightened preaching": "Their God is like the God of Shakespeare's drunken Falstaff, 'the inside of a church'"
The motif of diverging paths also appears in his painting ''Wheat Field with Crows
''Wheatfield with Crows'' ( nl, Korenveld met kraaien) is a July 1890 painting by Vincent van Gogh. It has been cited by several critics as one of his greatest works.
It is commonly stated that this was van Gogh's final painting because Vincen ...
.''
In popular culture
''The Church at Auvers'' plays a prominent role in "Vincent and the Doctor
"Vincent and the Doctor" is the tenth episode of the fifth series of British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', first broadcast on BBC One on 5 June 2010. It was written by Richard Curtis and directed by Jonny Campbell and featu ...
", a 2010 episode of the British science-fiction television programme ''Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
'', although the scenes at the church were filmed at Llandaff Cathedral
Llandaff Cathedral ( cy, Eglwys Gadeiriol Llandaf) is an Anglican cathedral and parish church in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales. It is the seat of the Bishop of Llandaff, head of the Church in Wales Diocese of Llandaff. It is dedicated to Saint Peter ...
in Wales.
See also
*List of works by Vincent van Gogh
List of works by Vincent van Gogh is an incomplete list of paintings and other works by the Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh. The listing is ordered by year and then by catalogue number. While more accurate dating of Van Gogh's work is often difficu ...
Notes and references
External links
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Church at Auvers, The Church at Auvers, The Church at Auvers, The Church at Auvers, The Paintings of Auvers-sur-Oise by Vincent van Gogh Churches in art