Van Gogh in the Garden
An exhibition of paintings and drawings by Vincent Van Gogh at London’s National Gallery offers an unusual glimpse of the artist in the setting of a formal garden within a courtyard
Amongst the masterpieces in the current National Gallery show Van Gogh, Poets & Lovers, is a garden painting. The painter’s swirling rendition of landscapes is familiar, imbuing trees and fields with passionate dancing energy, but this painting of a more restrained outdoor setting is lesser known. Appearing at No.37 in the exhibition, the work depicts The Courtyard of the Hospital at Arles. Painted in 1889, it is owned by the Swiss Confederation, Federal Office of Culture, Oskar Reinhart Collection ‘Am Römerholz’, Winterthur.
Those of us able to get to London are lucky to see on the walls of the gallery works borrowed from collections across the world, including great museums in Paris, Washington DC and of course the incomparable Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, but also from lesser-know holdings who have generously shared their masterpieces – such as the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo in the Netherlands. Many of the paintings have been lent by private collectors – it boggles the mind to think of having one of these hanging on one’s wall at home.
Of The Courtyard of the Hospital at Arles, the National Gallery’s guide to the exhibition says: ‘In the spring of 1889, Van Gogh spent extended time in the hospital in Arles, where he was given a room as a studio…’ The guide goes on to describe how the artist wrote to his sister Willemien describing the painting: ‘So it’s a painting chock-full of flowers and springtime greenery. However, three black, sad tree-trunks cross it like snakes, and in the foreground four large sad, dark box bushes.’
The pattern of the formal garden can clearly be seen, its design consisting of a round pond at centre with eight wedge-shaped beds fitted around it filling out the square site, and further beds separating this from the surrounding two-story building with open arcades. These arcades would have allowed the inhabitants to walk outdoors while shielding them from the sun; from the upper stories you would also be able to look down on the formal design.
The beds are edged with low plant material, which we at the EBTS would of course like to believe is box, Buxus sempervirens being unequalled for edging. The beds are filled with the low growth of bright bedding plants and are divided by narrow paths allowing further possibilities for perambulation and contemplation, along with watching the goldfish in the pond, whose sinuous movement we all know to have a mesmerising quality.
It is an inviting garden, one which we hope gave relief to inmates of the hospital; the physical and mental health benefits of gardens, gardening and nature are well know and described by Isabel Hardman in her book The Natural Health Service. See also www.mind.org.uk and other charities.
Van Gogh, Poets & Lovers is at the National Gallery in London until 19th January 2025, supported by worthy sponsors and accompanied by a magnificent catalogue (£35 for non members) which can be bought from National Gallery shop along with a selection of themed items and gifts. For more about the exhibition itself click here.
By Elizabeth Hilliard
