La Nuit étoilée, oil on canvas painted in June 1889 at the asylum of St-Rémy, is unprecedented in the history of art. Vincent first wanted to paint the colors of the night. In order for them to be clearly visible, he oversized the Moon and the stars which have become swirls of colors.
La Nuit étoilée is also a landscape with the village of St-Rémy and the Alpilles. It is dominated in the foreground by an isolated floating tree, disproportionate and asymmetrical. With its longevity and its evergreen leaves, the cypress is the symbol of eternal life and the tree of the graveyards.
In October 1889 nature offers a satisfaction to Vincent : that autumn is superb. The artist paints the colors of the garden. With a texture of violent lines, the brushstroke has integrated the style of the Starry Night. In the foreground two or three thin trunks twist. The only vertical reference in this unbalanced universe is the tall cypress, in the distance, with the same asymmetry as the tree of the Starry Night.
A view in St. Paul's Hospital Garden, oil on canvas 67 x 52 cm, was sold for £ 9M including premium by Christie's on June 23, 2010.
Painted in vibrant colors, Trees in the Garden of the Asylum, oil on canvas 42 x 34 cm, will be sold as lot 15A by Christie's in New York on May 13. The March 27 press release announces an estimate in the region of $ 25M.
SOLD for $ 40M including premium
#AuctionUpdate Vincent van Gogh's 'Arbres dans le jardin de l'asile' from the collection of S.I. Newhouse realizes $40,000,000 https://t.co/kTl39lKfJq pic.twitter.com/IP2q8HHFV9
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) May 13, 2019