“Lane of Poplars at Sunset”
Today, an early landscape from the brilliant Van Gogh…
“Lane of Poplars at Sunset” is an oil on canvas painting by the Dutch Post-Impressionist artist, Vincent Van Gogh, from 1884. In this painting, Van Gogh depicts a woman carrying a basket down a poplar tree lined path. The sun is setting in the background and is visible just above the horizon.
This is one of Van Gogh’s earliest landscapes. He painted it in October of 1884 while staying with his parents at Nuenen in the Netherlands. This was several years before Van Gogh’s move to Paris, France. He had just started painting with oils in 1882, just two years prior.
Though most of Van Gogh’s earlier works had a darker and more subtle palette, this painting shows his early interest in color. Van Gogh wrote to his brother, Theo, “One of the most beautiful things by the painters of this century has been the painting of darkness that is still color“.
Van Gogh was particularly interested in how color changes with the movement of the sun. In this painting, he put dabs of bright orange-red color that give intensity and life to an otherwise dark and monochrome scene. The fall foliage still clinging to the branches of the trees on the edge of the path are depicted brighter as they reflect the color from the setting sun.
The striking perspective provides the viewer with an almost tangible mood. Long shadows fall behind the woman in the foreground, who is carrying a basket in one hand, and holding her shawl close to her in the other. The small areas of bright color provide little warmth to the overall dark canvas, but still leave the viewer with an overall sense of brisk coolness.
“Lane of Poplars at Sunset” is currently on display at the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, Netherlands.
For more on Vincent Van Gogh, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
