New York: forty cypresses by Van Gogh stand out at the Metropolitan

The Cypresses by Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) will tower from May 22 to August 27, 2023 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. For the first time, the “Van Gogh’s Cypresses” exhibition will bring together 40 iconic paintings – including “Wheatfield with Cypresses” and “The Starry Night” – to offer an unprecedented perspective on the Dutch painter’s fascination with trees “like flames” .

The exhibition will focus on the unique vision that the artist has given to soaring trees, among the most famous in the history of art, offering, explains the Met in a statement, “an unprecedented perspective on a motif that is practically synonymous with its extremely original expressive force».

An extraordinary range of works will illuminate the extent of Van Gogh’s fascination with the evergreen trees of Provence that successively fired and fueled his imagination over the course of two years living in the south of France: from the first sighting of the “tall dark” trees to Arles to the realization of their full evocative potential (“as I see them”) in the asylum of Saint-Rémy.

The exhibition will feature loans from around 30 public and private collections. Highlights of the exhibition include “The Starry Sky” by the Met itself, “Wheatfield with Cypresses” from the National Gallery in London and “Night Path in Provence” (also known as “Road with Cypresses and Starry Sky”) from the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, as well as an important selection from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

A dream come true
The exhibition itinerary is organized chronologically. Thematic groupings and pairings of related paintings and drawings trace the artist’s progressive exploration of a motif that has held his interest for two years. “The exhibition is a dream come true,” said Max Hollein, director of the Met. “Marking the 170th anniversary of Van Gogh’s birth, this highly focused exhibition explores his distinctive vision of towering cypress trees. A one-of-a-kind collection, it presents both an overview and an intimate look at his creative process, challenging prevailing notions with new insights.” Combining seminal paintings with precious drawings and illustrated letters – many of which are rarely, if ever, loaned or exhibited together – this thematic exhibition “will offer the extraordinary opportunity to appreciate again some of Van Gogh’s most famous works in a context that will reveal for the first time the story of their invention». Curator Susan Alyson Stein added: “To an extent that has remained unrecognized, Van Gogh brought his characteristic ambition, determination and a rare degree of consideration and reconsideration to shape cypresses into works that are striking in their originality. and for their continuity of vision».