The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 19, 2024

The Large Plane Trees (Road Menders at Saint-Rémy)

The Large Plane Trees (Road Menders at Saint-Rémy)

1889
(Dutch, 1853–1890)
Framed: 104.5 x 124.5 x 7.6 cm (41 1/8 x 49 x 3 in.); Unframed: 73.4 x 91.8 cm (28 7/8 x 36 1/8 in.)

Did You Know?

Van Gogh sometimes created what he called "repetitions," in which he painted the same subject and composition again. This painting has a repetition, currently in the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC. Conservation research has shown that the Cleveland painting is the first version.

Description

In 1889, after suffering a severe hallucinatory seizure, Van Gogh committed himself to an asylum near Saint-Rémy. While walking through the town that fall, he was impressed by the sight of men repairing a road beneath immense plane trees. Rushing to capture the yellowing leaves, he painted this composition on an unusual cloth with a pattern of small red diamonds, visible in the picture’s many unpainted areas. “In spite of the cold,” he wrote to his brother, “I have gone on working outside till now, and I think it is doing me good and the work too.” After painting this composition directly from nature, Van Gogh used it to produce a second version in the studio known as The Road Menders at Saint-Rémy. Painted on a traditional canvas covered by a ground layer, the second version is more restrained, the explosive yellows balanced by larger areas of cool color.
  • 1890
    Theo van Gogh [1857-1891], Paris, France
    Julien Leclercq [1865-1901] Paris, France (see document b1533 v/1962 in the archive of the Van Gogh Museum
    (Schuffenecker Brothers, Paris, France, sold to Gustave Fayet, Igny, France)
    Gustave Fayet [1865-1925], Igny, France
    1929-1931
    Gilbert E. Fuller, Boston, MA
    (Paul Rosenberg, New York, NY, July 18, 1947, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1947-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
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    Volné Směry: Měsíčník Umělecky nos. 1-5 (1911): 108. Reproduced: p. 108
    Coquiot, Gustave. ... Vincent van Gogh; avec 24 reproductions hors-texte des œuvres de Vincent van Gogh. Paris, FR: Ollendorff, 1923 Reproduced: opp. p. 216
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    Faure, Élie. Histoire de l'art. Paris, FR: G. Crès, 1926. Reproduced: p. 447, vol. 4
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    Doiteau, Victor, and Edgard Leroy. La folie de Vincent van Gogh. Paris, FR: Aesculape, 1928. Reproduced: opp. p. 80
    de LaFaille, J. B. L'oeuvre de Vincent van Gogh, catalogue raisonné. Paris, FR: et Bruxelles: Les Éditions G. van Oest, 1928. Mentioned: no. 657, vol. 1; Reproduced: no. 657, vol. 2
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    La Faille, J. Bernard de, Charles Terrasse, Prudence Montagu-Pollock, and André Gloeckner. Vincent Van Gogh. New York, N.Y.: French and European Publications [etc.], 1939. Reproduced: no. 667
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    Gogh, Vincent van. Work by Vincent Van Gogh: Catalogue of a Loan Exhibition at the Cleveland Museum of Art, November 3 Through December 12 1948. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1948. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 25
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    Leymarie, Jean. Van Gogh. [Paris]: P. Tisné, 1951. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 128, no. 123
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    Bourniquel, Camille. Van Gogh. Paris, FR] Hachette, 1968. Reproduced: p. 211
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    De la Faille, J.-B. The Works of Vincent Van Gogh; His Paintings and Drawings. Amsterdam: Meulenhoff International, 1970. Reproduced: no. 657
    Lecaldano, Paolo. L'opera pittorica completa di Van Gogh e i suoi nessi grafici. Milan, IT: Rizzoli,1971. Reproduced: no. 754; vol. 2
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    Grossvogel, Jill. Claude-Emile Schuffenecker: Catalogue Raisonné. San Francisco: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, 2000. Mention: p. 45
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    Hughes, Robert. The Portable Van Gogh. New York, NY: Universe, 2002. Reproduced: p. 344
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    Stokstad, Marilyn, David Cateforis, and Stephen Addiss. Art History. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2005. Reproduced: fig 28
    Cogeval, Guy, and Marie-Paule Vial. Right under the sun: landscape in Provence from classicism to modernism (1750-1920). Montréal: Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 2005. Reproduced: p. 143; no. 186
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    Burgess, Margaret B., "Side by Side", Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 45 no. 05, May/June 2005 Mentioned & reproduced: p. 6-7 archive.org
    "L'Oeil sur les Expositions." Oeil (June 2005): 16-37. Reproduced: p. 34
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    Rathbone, Eliza E., William H. Robinson, and Marcia Steele. Van Gogh Repetitions. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2013. Reproduced: 0. 142; Mentioned: p. 140-153
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    Four Modes of Composition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 10-October 27, 1954).
    In Memoriam: Leonard C. Hanna, Jr.. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 4-April 7, 1958).
    Van Gogh in St. Remy and Auvers. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (November 25, 1986-March 22, 1987).
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    Right Under the Sun: Painting in Provence from Classicism to Modernism (1750-1920). Montréal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, Quebec, Canada (organizer) (September 22, 2005-January 8, 2006).
    Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Beijing World Art Museum, China (May 26-August 27, 2006); Mori Art Center (September 16-November 26, 2006); Seoul Art Center, South Korea (December 22, 2006-March 28, 2007); Seoul Olympic Museum of Art, South Korea (April 7-May 20, 2007); Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada (June 9-September 16, 2007); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 21, 2007-January 13, 2008); The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (October 12, 2008-January 18, 2009).
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    Cézanne, Gauguin, Seurat, Van Gogh. Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY (1929).
    Retrospective Exhibition of Landscape Painting. Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT (1931).
    Exhibition of Masters of French 19th Century Painting. New Burlington Galleries,London, United Kingdom (1936).
  • {{cite web|title=The Large Plane Trees (Road Menders at Saint-Rémy)|url=false|author=Vincent van Gogh|year=1889|access-date=19 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1947.209