Orchards in Blossom View of Arles by Van Gogh Postcard

Orchards in Blossom, View of Arles by Vincent Van Gogh, oil on canvas 1889, is a landscape painting of rows of blossoming fruit trees before the buildings of the town of Arles in the south of France. With bold, expressionistic outlines, contrasting areas of warm and cool colours, and brushstrokes varying from flat areas of colour to boldly applied, thick areas of impasto oil paint, Van Gogh captures the growth and inner life of the trees and landscape elements against the pale sky. 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.