Hospital Saint-Paul at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence – (Vincent Van Gogh) ◄ Previous Next ►

Artist: Vincent Van Gogh

Topic: Saints

Museum: Musée d'Orsay (Paris, France)

The Asylum of Saint-Paul, Saint-Rémy is a collection of paintings created by Vincent van Gogh while he was a solitary patient at the Asylum of Saint-Paul in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, which was renamed the Van Gogh Clinic. since May 1889 – May 1890. Confined to the grounds of the asylum for most of his time, he painted a garden, a fenced wheat field that he could see outside his room, and several portraits of people in the asylum. During his stay in the Saint-Paul Asylum, Van Gogh had periods of illness when he was unable to paint. When he was able to recover, drawing gave him solace and meaning. Nature seemed particularly meaningful to him, trees, landscape, even caterpillars as symbols of the possibility of transformation and flowers blooming to symbolize the cycle of life. One of the most recognizable works of this period is "Irises". The works of the interior of the hospital convey the loneliness and sadness he felt. From the cell window he saw a fenced wheat field with many pictures from his room. In Saint-Paul, he was able to make only a few portraits. In the painting "Hospital Saint-Paul at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence", the artist depicted a tree and a man in front of the Asylum of Saint-Paul, Saint-Rémy. The painting was painted in 1889, is an oil on canvas, and measures 58 cm × 45 cm (23 in × 18 in). The original painting is currently in Paris at the Musée d'Orsay.