Olive Grove by Vincent Van Gogh Tea Towel

Olive Grove by Vincent Van Gogh, oil painting on canvas 1889, is a landscape painting of the gnarled, twisted forms of olive trees erupting from hills of sandy dirt with flame-like masses of deep green leaves growing towards the bright, pale sky. Van Gogh constructs the picture in short, broken brushstrokes that model both the form and movement of trees, soil, and hills, energetically guiding the eye of the viewer through the composition. Van Gogh executed a series of olive tree paintings while interred at the asylum in Saint Remy in the Provence region of France following a mental breakdown. The bold, heightened colour and thickly outlined drawing that the painter developed in the final years of his life reveal the emotive and expressionistic power of the Post-Impressionist style that the artist developed in the final years of his life. Vincent Van Gogh (1853 - 1890) was a Dutch painter of the Post-Impressionist movement known for bold, expressive drawing, swirling brushstrokes and intense, heightened colours. In early adulthood Van Gogh worked as an art dealer, teacher and pastor before taking up the full time study of drawing and painting in his late twenties. Influenced by Rembrandt, the 19th century Realists and Barbizon school, Van Gogh’s early paintings featured studies of workers and peasants in sombre earth tones. Moving to France in 1886, Van Gogh met with the startling innovations of the Impressionist painters and began to apply their approach to colour and subject matter, which continued into the mature style for which the artist is most renowned. Van Gogh produced many hundreds of drawings and paintings including portraits, landscapes, still life and flower paintings, and numerous self-portraits that became a dominating influence on the modern art of the 20th century and made him one of the most popular artists of all time.