Vincent van Gogh Print, Landscape with Olive Tree and Mountains in the Background (1889)

Landscape with Olive Tree and Mountains in the Background by Vincent van Gogh

Landscape with Olive Tree and Mountains in the Background is a late 1889 Saint-Rémy landscape in which Vincent van Gogh brings together cultivated fields, a dramatically shaped olive tree and the rugged outline of the Alpilles.

The foreground is dominated by fresh greens and vigorously painted vegetation, while the twisted tree provides a strong structural focus against blue-violet mountains and a luminous sky. The relatively intimate scale of the scene gives the work a different character from Van Gogh’s broader olive-grove panoramas.

The Landscape Around Saint-Rémy

During his stay at Saint-Paul-de-Mausole, Van Gogh repeatedly explored the countryside immediately surrounding Saint-Rémy. Olive trees, cypresses, wheat fields and the Alpilles gave him a concentrated group of motifs that could be recombined in constantly changing ways.

Here the olive tree acts almost as a portrait subject within the landscape. Its trunk bends and forks sharply while the distant mountains establish a strong horizontal contrast.

Olive Trees and the Alpilles

The irregular shape of the olive tree appealed to Van Gogh’s increasingly rhythmic handling of paint. Curving marks follow its branches while similarly energetic strokes run through the foreground grass and mountain forms.

The Alpilles appear not as a static backdrop but as another active component of the composition, their jagged contours echoing the movement of the tree.

A Green Van Gogh Landscape for Interiors

This painting is particularly effective in interiors built around green, blue and warm neutral tones. It works naturally with sage, olive, cream, putty, pale blue and timber furnishings.

The balanced landscape format makes it suitable above sofas, sideboards, beds and desks and an excellent companion to Van Gogh’s other Saint-Rémy olive and cypress scenes.

About Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) developed his mature landscape style during his years in southern France. At Saint-Rémy he repeatedly painted familiar natural motifs, changing viewpoint, colour and brushwork to investigate their visual character under different conditions.

Vincent van Gogh’s Painting Style

Van Gogh’s landscape painting combines observation with deliberate simplification and expressive mark-making. Trees, fields and mountains are described through visible brushstrokes whose direction reinforces the structure and movement of the natural forms.

Frequently Asked Questions

When was Landscape with Olive Tree and Mountains painted?

The work dates from late 1889 during Van Gogh’s Saint-Rémy period.

Which mountains appear in the painting?

The mountainous background represents the Alpilles, the distinctive range visible around Saint-Rémy-de-Provence.

Is this part of Van Gogh’s olive-tree group?

Yes. The painting belongs to the wider body of Saint-Rémy landscapes in which olive trees became one of Van Gogh’s most important recurring motifs.

Where is the original painting?

The original is currently in a private collection.

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