''Trees and Undergrowth'' is the subject of paintings that

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 Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...

made 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. Si ...

, Saint-Rémy and Auvers, from 1887 through 1890. Van Gogh made several paintings of undergrowth, a genre of painting known as sous-bois that was brought into prominence by artists of the

Barbizon School The Barbizon school of painters were part of an art movement towards Realism in art, which arose in the context of the dominant Romantic Movement of the time. The Barbizon school was active roughly from 1830 through 1870. It takes its name ...

and the early

Impressionists Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...

. The works from this series successfully use shades of color and light in the forest or garden interior paintings. Van Gogh selected one of his Saint-Rémy paintings, ''Ivy'' (F609) for the

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Les XX ''Les XX'' ( French; "''Les Vingt''"; ; ) was a group of twenty Belgian painters, designers and sculptors, formed in 1883 by the Brussels lawyer, publisher, and entrepreneur Octave Maus. For ten years, they held an annual exhibition of their ar ...

exhibition in 1890.

Sous-bois genre

The woodland scene genre, or "sous-bois" in French for undergrowth, was popular with artists from the

and

. Rather than painting landscapes from afar like traditional painters, 19th-century rural painters climbed or walked into forested areas for a close view of wooded scenes. Paintings of the sous-bois, evoking the trees and grassy undergrowth, were often made vertically on canvas, as opposed to horizontal views of sweeping landscapes. In a sous-bois, the sky is barely visible, just a glimpse of sky sometimes penetrating the branches. This type of composition was rare before the 19th century when artists of the

made paintings of forested areas in the

Fontainebleau Fontainebleau (; ) is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a sub-prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne department, and it is the seat of the ''arrondissemen ...

region of France. Close to the subject of the painting, artists painting sous-bois capture their experience in the forested scene. In German, the painting of interior forests was called ''Waldinneres'', meaning enclosed woodland space.

Paris

In ''Trees and Undergrowth'' (F309a) Van Gogh portrays the play of light falling through the trees to the low-lying plants in highlights of white, yellow and red. The effect of the light and shade produces many shades of green which van Gogh paints in short brushstrokes across the canvas. A horizon line is suggested by a line of yellow, suggesting a clearing beyond the cropping of trees and foliage. File:Van Gogh - Unterholz.jpeg, ''Undergrowth'', 1887,

Centraal Museum The Centraal Museum is the main museum in Utrecht, Netherlands, founded in 1838. The museum has a wide-ranging collection, mainly of works produced locally. The collection of the paintings by the Northern Mannerist Joachim Wtewael is by a lon ...

, Utrecht, Netherlands (F306) File:Van Gogh -Unterholz.jpeg, ''Undergrowth'', 1887,

Van Gogh Museum The Van Gogh Museum () is a Dutch art museum dedicated to the works of Vincent van Gogh and his contemporaries in the Museum Square in Amsterdam South, close to the Stedelijk Museum, the Rijksmuseum, and the Concertgebouw. The museum opene ...

, Amsterdam (F308) File:Van Gogh - Waldweg.jpeg, ''Path in the Woods'', 1887,

, Amsterdam (F309) File:Van Gogh - Bäume und Unterholz2.jpeg, ''Trees and Undergrowth'', 1887,

, Amsterdam (F309a)

Saint-Rémy

Van Gogh explored the grounds of the asylum where he found an overgrown garden. He wrote, "Since I have been here, I have had enough work with the overgrown garden with its large pine trees, under which there grows tall and poorly-tended grass, mixed with all kinds of periwinkle." The paintings are of growth below ivy covered trees. Van Gogh Museum says of ''Undergrowth with Ivy'' (F745): "The effect of light and shade created an almost abstract pattern, with small arcs of paint covering the entire surface of the canvas." The second ''Undergrowth with Ivy'' painting (F746), also of undergrowth beneath trees, is made with small brushstrokes to create a blurred image that also shows the effect of light shining through the shaded trees. ''Ivy'', originally ''Le Lierre'' is a painting van Gogh made May 1889. He incorporated the first version in his

selection Selection may refer to: Science * Selection (biology), also called natural selection, selection in evolution ** Sex selection, in genetics ** Mate selection, in mating ** Sexual selection in humans, in human sexuality ** Human mating strateg ...

of works to be displayed at

, in 1890. File:WLANL - artanonymous - Kreupelhout.jpg, ''Undergrowth with Ivy''
July, 1889

, Amsterdam (F746) File:Van Gogh - Unterholz mit Efeu2.jpeg, ''Tree Trunks with Ivy''
1889

Kröller-Müller Museum The Kröller-Müller Museum () is a national art museum and sculpture garden, located in the Hoge Veluwe National Park in Otterlo in the Netherlands. The museum, founded by art collector Helene Kröller-Müller within the extensive grounds of ...

, Otterlo, Netherlands (F747) File:Van-Gogh-Ivy.jpg, ''Ivy (Corner in the Garden of Saint-Paul Hospital)'', 1889, 92 x 72 cm, Location unknown (F609) Vincent's brother

Theo Theo is a given name and a hypocorism. Greek origin Many names beginning with the root "Theo-" derive from the Ancient Greek word ''theos'' (''θεός''), which means god, for example: *Feminine names: Thea, Theodora, Theodosia, Theophania, ...

, was quite impressed with his undergrowth, or sous-bois, paintings and that ''Ivy'' (F609) of this series was included in van Gogh's list of works to show at the

in 1890. The same painting was on exhibit in Paris by Père Tanguy, who felt he would very likely sell it.

Auvers

In 1975 wax was applied on the back of ''Undergrowth with Two Figures'' painting to "protect the canvas and secure the paint." Over more than three decades the wax has turned milky and the painting has lost its gloss. An art historian at the

Cincinnati Art Museum The Cincinnati Art Museum is an art museum in the Eden Park neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1881, it was the first purpose-built art museum west of the Alleghenies, and is one of the oldest in the United States. Its collection of ov ...

is restoring the work, a painstaking process with a solvent to gently loosen and a

cotton swab Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perc ...

to remove the wax. A microscope is used to see the detail. File:Vincent van Gogh - Undergrowth with Two Figures (F773).jpg, ''Undergrowth with Two Figures'', 1890,

, Cincinnati, Ohio (F773)

Dickens "Ivy Green"

Whether describing ivy crawling up a home - or lit by rays of sun beneath trees, van Gogh enjoyed ivy and referred to

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...

' poem "Ivy Green" in his early letters. :"The Ivy Green" by

:Oh, a dainty plant is the Ivy green, That creepeth o'er ruins old! Of right choice food are his meals, I ween, In his cell so lone and cold. The wall must be crumbled, the stone decayed, To pleasure his dainty whim: And the mouldering dust that years have made Is a merry meal for him. Creeping where no life is seen, A rare old plant is the Ivy green. :Fast he stealeth on, though he wears no wings, And a staunch old heart has he. How closely he twineth, how tight he clings To his friend the huge Oak Tree! And slyly he traileth along the ground, And his leaves he gently waves, As he joyously hugs and crawleth round The rich mould of dead men's graves. Creeping where grim death hath been, A rare old plant is the Ivy green. :Whole ages have fled and their works decayed, And nations have scattered been; But the stout old Ivy shall never fade, From its hale and hearty green. The brave old plant, in its lonely days, Shall fatten upon the past: For the stateliest building man can raise Is the Ivy's food at last. Creeping on where time has been, A rare old plant is the Ivy green. The ''Trees and Undergrowth'' or sous-bois series of works he made in Paris and Saint-Rémy pay homage to Van Gogh's early letters about ivy.

References