Van Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise. His Final Months

2023, the year of Van Gogh

2023 marks the celebration of the 170th anniversary of the birth of Van Gogh (1853-1890), one of the world’s best-known and most admired painters. It is also the anniversary of the creation of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, which was opened 50 years ago and holds the world’s largest collection of works by the Dutch artist.

To commemorate this occasion, the Van Gogh Museum and the Musée d’Orsay which has the world’s second largest Van Gogh collection, are working in partnership to create an incredible exhibition focusing on the last two months of the artist’s life spent in Auvers-sur-Oise.

Van Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise

Vincent van Gogh moved to Auvers-sur-Oise, 30 kilometres from Paris, on 20 May 1890, after returning from the south of France where he had been in a psychiatric institution. “Auvers is seriously beautiful,” he wrote to his brother Theo.

Van Gogh intended to stay for a while in Auvers, the home of Dr Gachet, a doctor recommended to Theo van Gogh by Camille Pissarro.

During his time there, the artist stayed at the Auberge Ravoux, in a small attic room measuring 7 m2, room number 5, lit by a simple skylight. It was in this room that Vincent van Gogh died on 29 July 1890, in the presence of his brother Theo.

No ordinary exhibition

During the 70 days he spent in Auvers, the painter demonstrated extraordinary creativity, producing 74 paintings and 33 drawings.
For the first time, an exhibition is devoted exclusively to this crucial period in the artist’s life, which inspired such iconic works such as Portrait of Dr Gachet, The Church at Auvers, and Wheatfield with Crows.
Around forty paintings and twenty drawings will be displayed within a themed layout: early landscapes depicting the village, portraits, still lifes, landscapes of the surrounding countryside.

Visit the exhibition at the Musée d’Orsay from 3 October 2023 to 4 February 2024. To quote Van Gogh, this is a “seriously beautiful” exhibition, not to be missed under any circumstances!