VAN GOGH

in
A u v e r s -s ur - O i s e
his final months

e x h i b i t i o n at

musée d’orsay

f ro m o c t o b e r 3 rd, 2 0 2 3 to f e b r ua r y 4 t h , 2 0 2 4
 t h e l i f e o f va n g o g h
3 0 m a rc h 1 85 3 ................... Vincent van Gogh
is born into a middle-class family in Zundert (Holland).
His father, Theodorus van Gogh, is a pastor.

1 8 6 9 – 1 8 7 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Van Gogh is employed

at Goupil & Co. art dealers, in The Hague, London and
then Paris.

1878 – 1880 ........................ After abandoning his

theological studies, he becomes a lay preacher in Borinage,
near Mons in Belgium, ministering to a population of
coal miners.

1880 – 1886 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . He decides to become an

artist, takes painting lessons but for the most part teaches
himself, in The Hague, Drenthe and Nuenen. His brother
Theo supports him.

february 1886 – february 1888 .... He lives with Theo in

Paris, gets to know Émile Bernard, Paul Gauguin, Henri de
Toulouse-Lautrec and Paul Signac, and exhibits his works.

february 1 8 8 8 – may 1 8 8 9 ......... He moves to Arles.

Self-Portrait, 1889
Paris, musée d’Orsay
Painted in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence
On October 23, Gauguin joins him there and works with him.
On December 23, after a quarrel with his fellow artist,
Van Gogh cuts off his left ear. He suffers his first bouts
of dementia.

may 1 8 8 9 – may 18 9 0 ............... He is committed to

the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum near Saint-Rémy-de-
Provence.

2 0 may – 2 9 j u ly 1 8 9 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Van Gogh moves to the

Ravoux inn in Auvers-sur-Oise. He dies as the result of
a revolver shot to the chest, fired on 27 July.
 The Potato Eaters , 1885
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum
(Vincent van Gogh Stichting) *
Painted in Nuenen

The Hague
London
Zundert
Nuenen

Mons
Self-Portrait , 1887
Paris, musée d’Orsay *
Auvers- Painted in Paris
sur-Oise

Paris

Arlésienne , 1889
Paris, musée d’Orsay *
Painted in Arles

Saint-Rémy-
de-Provence
Arles

Saint-Paul Hospital at
Saint-Rémy-de-Provence,
1889

The Church at Paris, musée d’Orsay *

0 200 400 km
Auvers-sur-Oise , 1890 Painted in
Saint-Rémy-de-Provence
Paris, musée d’Orsay
Painted in
Auvers-sur-Oise * Works not shown in the exhibition
 p r e s e n tat i o n o f map of
the exhibition the exhibition
Vincent van Gogh arrived in Auvers-sur-Oise on May 20th 1890 and
died there on July 29th following a suicide attempt. Although the A
painter only spent a little over two months in Auvers, the period 7 6
was one of artistic renewal with its own style and development,
D
marked by the psychic tension resulting from his new situation as
well as by some of his greatest masterpieces.
5 3 2 1 ←
E F G 4
Sorely tried by the various crises suffered in Arles and then
at the asylum in Saint-Rémy, Van Gogh decided to settle near
Paris and his brother Theo in an attempt to find fresh creative ↓ Gift shop
C B
Virtual reality

energy. The choice of Auvers had much to do with the presence

there of Dr Gachet, a physician specializing in the treatment
of melancholia who was also a friend of the impressionists, a
collector and an amateur painter. Van Gogh moved to the Ravoux
Sections
inn in the village centre and explored every aspect of the new
1 Introduction
world in front of him, while struggling with the many anxieties
2 “Auvers is seriously beautiful…”
connected with his health, his relationship with his brother, and 3 Bouquets and plants studies
his place in the art world. 4 The modern portraiture
5 Graphic studies
No exhibition has previously been exclusively devoted to this 6 The heart of the countryside, distinctive and picturesque...
final yet crucial stage in his career. In just two months, the artist 7 The double-square format
produced 74 paintings and 33 drawings, including some iconic
works: Doctor Paul Gachet, The Church at Auvers-sur-Oise,
and Wheatfield with Crows. Comprising some fifty paintings and Cabinets
around twenty drawings, the exhibition will highlight this period
thematically: first landscapes featuring the village, portraits, still A Dr Paul Gachet, doctor, collector and amateur painter
lifes, and landscapes depicting the surrounding countryside. It B Letters from Auvers-sur-Oise
will also present a series of paintings in elongated double-square C Van Gogh: color in relief
D Auvers-sur-Oise, a picturesque village
format, unique in Van Gogh’s body of work. Contextualization and
E Rapid and explosive recognition
interpretation rooms enable better understanding of Van Gogh’s
F The death of Van Gogh
time in Auvers-sur-Oise.
G Van Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise in film

Virtual reality “La palette de Van Gogh”:

Immerse yourself in Van Gogh’s palette as if you were strolling through
a landscape to discover the artist's works and techniques.
Alongside the exhibition
Visit
Virtual reality “La palette de Van Gogh”
Activity available for the duration of the exhibition
Online booking on billetterie.musee-orsay.fr/en-GB
Duration: 10 min. / full rate: 6€ (museum entrance fee
not included)
Audioguide (French, English)
Full price €6 / reduced rate and members €4
Young visitors’ audioguide (French) €3.50
Guided tours (French, English, FSL)
Program available online
Find Van Gogh in the Musée d’Orsay’s collections:
Level 5, Rooms 43–45.
Publications
Van Gogh à Auvers-sur-Oise, les derniers mois
Exhibition catalogue, Musée d’Orsay / Hazan
co-publication, 256 pages, €45
Van Gogh à Auvers-sur-Oise, les dernières lettres
Artist’s correspondence, Musée d’Orsay / Hazan
co-publication, 120 pages, €14.95
Van Gogh, le dernier tableau
Graphic novel, Musée d’Orsay / Hazan co-publication,
128 pages, €18.95
Online
Discover the interview with the curator Emmanuel
Coquery on video and podcast, exhibition texts,
articles, documentary videos, and the program of
visits and events alongside the exhibition:
Program and bookings
musee-orsay.fr
Follow us on
#VanGoghAuvers
Curators
Emmanuel Coquery, General Curator, Director
of Cultural Development and the Museum at the
Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris;
Nienke Bakker, Curator of Paintings at the Van Gogh
Museum, Amsterdam.
In collaboration with Louis van Tilborgh and Teio
Meedendorp, researchers at the Van Gogh Museum,
Amsterdam.
Exhibition organized by the Établissement public du
musée d’Orsay et du musée de l’Orangerie – Valérie-
Giscard-d'Estaing, Paris, and the Van Gogh Museum,
Amsterdam.
With the generous support of
Media partners
Libération, Le Point, Arte, France Culture
Colophon
Conception: Visitors’ Department
Editorial coordination: Publishing Department
Graphic design: ZAINA
Printing: on recycled paper, France, Galiote Prenant,
September 2023
© Établissement public du musée d’Orsay et du musée
de l’Orangerie – Valérie-Giscard-d’Estaing, 2023
Photo credits
Cover: Vincent van Gogh, Wheatfield under
Thunderclouds, 1890, oil on canvas, Amsterdam, Van
Gogh Museum (Vincent van Gogh Stichting).
Page 2: Photo © musée d’Orsay, dist. RMN-GP /
Patrice Schmidt. Page 5: tl: Amsterdam, Van Gogh
Museum (Vincent van Gogh Stichting); ml: Photo ©
RMN-GP (musée d'Orsay) / Stéphane Maréchalle;
bl: Photo © musée d’Orsay, dist. RMN-GP / Patrice
Schmidt; tr and br: Photo © RMN-GP (musée d'Orsay)
/ Adrien Didierjean. All the works reproduced in this
document are by Vincent van Gogh.