The Cypress, a symbol of Provence for Vincent van Gogh

Ben Tyson

Art History

The Cypress, a symbol of Provence for Vincent van Gogh

Most of Van Gogh’s paintings during his time at Saint-Remy in Provence France are natural landscape paintings. These paintings often include core essentials such as fields (or open space), mountains, and skies. Some of these landscapes will be peppered with trees. Of the two main types of trees we see used in the landscapes, cypresses and olive trees are primarily the most prominent and detailed. Both of these types of trees have been noted to be symbols of Provence. But only one of the types of trees ought to be regarded as the symbol of Provence. The cypress when used in the landscape, becomes the main subject of the painting. It is often singular compared to the olive tree and is more detailed; it also tends not to blend in with the landscape. Not only this, but in reproducing Wheat Field with Cypresses, he takes time to better highlight the cypress in the overall lighter tonal change of the paint style: which makes it become the subject. Along with the renditions of Wheat Field with Cypresses that highlight Provence in great detail, his masterpiece Starry Night includes the cypress as the subject in the foreground of the painting: giving it some fame in relation to Provence. The cypress should be considered the symbol of Provence-related paintings by Van Gogh because the cypress is often the singular detailed subject of the landscapes unlike the olive tree.

1. Wheatfield after a Storm, Vincent van Gogh, 1889, Oil on canvas, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek

This piece serves as the vanilla version of one of Van Gogh’s landscapes. This is to give the viewer a sense of the setting of the landscapes at Saint-Remy. Notice the recurring theme of these Provence landscapes with their blue mountains, swirling skies, and green-yellow field. This is the visual theme of Provence that we will see again. These landscapes are far more numerous than the city paintings he did here.

2. Olive trees with yellow sky and sun, Vincent van Gogh, 1889, Oil on canvas, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts

Here we see an addition to the formula that Van Gogh has created. With the sky and mountains as the backdrop, the field in the foreground yields olive trees. This piece is here to demonstrate that the olive tree is not in fact the symbol of Provence. We see that there are numerous olive trees that fill the field. They blend in the depth of the field to become a part of the general scene. Not one of them is meant to stand apart from the rest. Their detail also does not rival the rest of the painting.

3. Cypresses, Vincent van Gogh, 1889, Oil on canvas, 49.30

Now we get a chance to look at the cypress in the context of a Provence landscape. The angle changes so that you cannot look into the field, thus the background is larger. This also makes the cypress the lone subject of the field. We see it up close from the ground angle as it takes up the foreground of the painting as the subject. The cypress ends up blocking some of the detailed sky and we instead see its intricate detail. Notice how small the details become in the tiny swirls of the dark green compared to the rest of the Provence landscape.

4. The Olive Trees, Vincent van Gogh, 1889, Oil on canvas, Museum of Modern Art

We must be brought back to see the contrast between the detailed singularity of the cypress against another landscape that utilizes multiple olive trees. Again, we see that it is indeed in the context of Provence and that trees take up the open space again like before. The multiple trees also vary in detail with the closest tree being the most detailed. Although it is detailed, it is lost in with the rest of the forest because not enough detail was given to make it stand out; its leaves blend right into the other trees.

5. Wheat Field with Cypresses, Vincent van Gogh, 1889, Oil on canvas, 1993.132

This was the piece of my research. It is a typical Provence landscape including all three elements aforementioned. It is here to be in contrast to the following piece which is the remastered version. We see that this painting is very detailed all around. The sky is heavily layered and swirled and the cypress is dark yet detailed. I would argue that from the changes that you will see in the remastered rendition, that it was remastered in order to highlight the cypress as the subject.

6. A Wheatfield, with Cypresses, Vincent van Gogh, 1889, Oil on canvas, The National Gallery

This is the twin of the aforementioned painting. It is considered to art critics to be the newer painting of the two. We see that it takes a lighter tone than before and the oil is not as thick as well. The detail in the bushes is relaxed as not to disturb the cypress. The cypress is lighter in color now so that you can notice the intricate details of the cypress which is now more detailed than any other shrubbery. It is also highlighted because the sky is not as dark anymore either. It is just dark enough to pop out but not dark enough to miss the detail: making it the subject of the landscape of Provence.

7. Starry Night, Vincent van Gogh, 1889, Oil on canvas, Museum of Modern Art

Here we have another landscape of Provence but at night. The cypress is not actually in the open space, instead there are houses. It takes the immediate foreground of the painting as the subject. Its darkness grounds the wild sky. Being the subject of one of Van Gogh’s most respected paintings of Provence, I would argue, is a reason to call the cypress not only a symbol of the painting but an overall symbol of Provence. Not to mention the other cypresses that are the subject of their landscapes that we have seen.