The Olive Orchard

1889

Vincent van Gogh

Painter, Dutch, 1853 - 1890

Three women stand on or next to a ladder picking olives in an orchard in this horizontal landscape painting. The women, trees, ground, and sky are all painted with long, parallel brushstrokes that curve and swirl over the canvas. The palette is dominated by sage and laurel green, tan and chocolate brown, spruce blue, and eggshell white. The women are outlined with dark brown lines. All three wear long skirts and long-sleeved shirts, and all reach for olives on the trees or into baskets. One woman, to our left, stands on the ladder and faces us; the second woman leans or sits against the right side of the ladder and faces away, her hair covered in a cloth; and the third woman stands at the foot of the ladder to our right, turning away from us. The tan and pale green of their clothing is echoed in trees around them. Short, distinct brushstrokes in pine and light green, with a few touches of silvery blue, create leaves on trees whose gnarled trunks are outlined with dark brown. The horizon line comes about a third of the way up the composition, and the sky above is painted with distinct strokes of ivory, pale mint green, and a few touches of shell pink. The ground around the women and trees is painted with sage and celery green, slate blue, and brown. The brushstrokes are spaced far enough apart in places that bare canvas is visible underneath, especially in the ground.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Chester Dale Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 73 × 92 cm (28 3/4 × 36 1/4 in.)
    framed: 97.5 x 114.9 x 10.1 cm (38 3/8 x 45 1/4 x 4 in.)

  • Accession

    1963.10.152

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Mme J. van Gogh-Bonger, the artist's sister-in-law, Amsterdam; sold 1905 to (Paul Cassirer, Berlin)as one of a batch of eight canvases for a total of 8259,50 guilders; sold 1905 to Julius Stern [1859-1914], Berlin; [1] (his estate sale, Cassirer, Berlin, 22 May 1916, no. 27); bought by Dr. Fritz A. Molle, Brieg (now Brzeg). [2] (Dr. Alfred Gold [1874-1958], Berlin); sold 22 October 1929 through (Étienne Bignou, Paris) to (Alex Reid and Lefèvre, Glasgow and London) on joint account with (M. Knoedler & Co., London, New York and Paris); sold 23 May 1931 through (Galerie Étienne Bignou, Paris) to Chester Dale [1882-1962], New York;[3] bequest 1963 to NGA.
[1] Stolwijk, Chris, and Han Veenenbos, The account book of Theo van Gogh and Jo van Gogh-Bonger, Amsterdam and Leiden, 2002, pp. 49 (14/4), 124 (89/21), 145.
[2] Annotated sales catalogue in Harvard University library (copy NGA curatorial files) gives the name "Moll" as the buyer. He is identified as Dr. Fritz A. Molle of Brieg, near Breslau (now Wrocław), in the documentation provided by Bignou to Chester Dale (NGA curatorial files).
[3]Reid & Lefèvre Paintings Sold, sheet no. 291, #226/29 B1657 gives acquisition and sale date and information about half share with Knoedler (Lefèvre archives, Hyman Kreitman Research Centre, Tate Britain, London, TGA 2002/11, Box 283). Letter dated 15 October 1929 from Bignou documents his acquisition of the painting from Gold. (Lefèvre archives, Hyman Kreitman Research Centre, Tate Britain, London, TGA 2002/11, Box 228).

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1905

  • VII. Austellung, Paul Cassirer, Berlin, 1905, not in catalogue.

1912

  • Sonderbund Ausstellung, Cologne, 1912, no. 96.

1913

  • Sechste Ausstellung, Paul Cassirer, Berlin, March 1913, no. 32.

  • Summer exhibition, Paul Cassirer, Berlin, 1913, unnumbered.

1914

  • Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cassirer, Berlin, 1914, no. 55.

  • Französischer Malerie des XIX. Jahrhunderts, Galerie Ernst Arnold, Dresden, 1914, no. 52, repro.

1930

  • Cent ans de peinture française, Galeries Georges Petit, Paris, 1930, no. 30.

  • Masterpieces by 19th Century French Painters, M. Knoedler & Co., New York, 1930, no. 8, repro.

1931

  • A Century of French Painting; an Exhibition of French Painting, Wilmington Society of Fine Arts, Delaware, M. Knoedler & Co., Chicago; Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1931, no. 12

1934

  • Landscape Paintings, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1934, no. 57.

1965

  • The Chester Dale Bequest, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1965, unnumbered checklist.

2010

  • From Impressionism to Modernism: The Chester Dale Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, January 2010-January 2012, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

Bibliography

1912

  • Meier-Graefe, Julius. Vincent van Gogh. Munich, 1912: 64.

1921

  • Glaser, Curt. Vincent van Gogh. Leipzig, 1921: pl. 15.

1922

  • Pfister, Kurt. Vincent van Gogh. Potsdam, 1922: repro. 21.

1928

  • Faille, J.-B. de la. L'Oeuvre de Vincent Van Gogh, catalogue raisonné. 4 vols. Paris and Brussels, 1928: 1:no. 565; 2:repro.

  • Fels, Florent. Vincent van Gogh. Paris, 1928: repro. 143.

1929

  • Pfister, Kurt. Vincent van Gogh. Berlin, 1929: pl. 48.

1930

  • "De Delacroix à nos Jours: une exposition-programme à la Galerie Georges Petit." Caheirs d'Art 5, no. 5 (July 1930): repro. 257.

1937

  • Scherjon, W., and Jos. de Gruyter. Vincent van Gogh's Great Period: Arles, St. Rémy and Auvers sur Oise (Complete Catalogue). Amsterdam, 1937: 266-267, no. 71, repro.

1939

  • Faille, J.-B. de la. Vincent Van Gogh. New York and Paris, 1939: 456, no. 656, repro.

1942

  • French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 78, repro.

1944

  • French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1944: 78, repro.

1952

  • Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. Great Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1952: 170, color repro.

1953

  • French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1953: 85, repro.

1957

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Comparisons in Art: A Companion to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. London, 1957 (reprinted 1959): pl. 156.

1963

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 327, repro.

1965

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 59.

  • Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Paintings & Sculpture of the French School in the Chester Dale Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 127, repro.

1966

  • Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 2:468, color repro.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 51, repro.

1970

  • Faille, J.-B. de la. The Works of Vincent van Gogh: Paintings and Drawings. Amsterdam, 1970: no. F656, repro.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 156, repro.

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: repro. 524.

1978

  • King, Marian. Adventures in Art: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1978: 92, pl. 56.

1980

  • Hulsker, Jan. The Complete Van Gogh: Paintings, drawings, sketches. New York, 1980: 428, no. 1870, repro.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 520, no. 780, color repro.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 180, repro.

1987

  • Wolk, Johannes van der. The Seven Sketchbooks of Vincent van Gogh. New York, 1987: 216, 219, 243, 308, repro.

1988

  • Feilchenfeldt, Walter. Vincent van Gogh & Paul Cassirer, Berlin. Amsterdam, 1988: 110-111.

1994

  • Walther, Ingo F., and Rainer Metzger. Vincent van Gogh: Sämtliche Gemälde. 2 vols. Cologne, 1994: 2:593.

1996

  • Klusmann, Georg. Vincent van Gogh: Still Life with Peonies. Mainburg, 1996: 35.

2002

  • Stolwijk, Chris, and Han Veenenbos. The account book of Theo van Gogh and Jo van Gogh-Bonger. Amsterdam and Leiden, 2002: 49 (14/4), 124 (89/21), 145, 183 no. F656 JH 1870.

2003

  • Stolwijk, Christ, Sjraar van Heugten, Leo Janson and Andreas Blühm, eds. Vincent's Choice: The Musée imaginaire of Van Gogh. Exh. cat. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, 2003: 183, repro.

2006

  • Van Gogh in Budapest. Exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, 2006-2007: 117, repro.

  • Hecht, Peter. Van Gogh en Rembrandt. In series Van Gogh in Focus. Amsterdam, 2006: 46, repro.

2013

  • Feilchenfeldt, Walter. Vincent van Gogh: The Years in France, Complete Paintings 1886-1890. London, 2013: 235, repro.

2015

  • Mullins, Edwin. Van Gogh: The Asylum Year. London, 2015: 127.

Inscriptions

On stretcher: in blue/black crayon, "42"(upside down), "[…] 66-#2", "A1085"; in pencil, "ARL7[?]", "3-2", "Dale 77"; brown paper label: handwritten, "L2177 Dale / Van Gogh"; white paper label: handwritten, "1657.B (red ink) / 79½ - 92 (black ink) / Photo (black ink)"; stamped in black ink, "PHOTOGRAPHED"

Wikidata ID

Q20190016

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