39adamstrand:37-year-old Vincent van Gogh was nearing the end of his year-long stay at the asylum in

39adamstrand:

37-year-old Vincent van Gogh was nearing the end of his year-long stay at the asylum in Saint-Rémy and was preparing to move to the Paris suburb of Auvers-sur-Oise in order to be under the care of Dr. Paul Gachet in early May 1890.

On 11 May he wrote to his brother Theo: “[I]f I had not had my work, I should long ago have been even more broken. At present all goes well, the whole horrible attack has disappeared like a thunderstorm and I am working to give a last stroke of the brush here with a calm and steady enthusiasm. I’m working on a canvas of roses on bright green background and two canvases of large bouquets of violet Irises, one lot against a pink background in which the effect is harmonious and soft through the combination of greens, pinks, violets. On the other hand, the other violet bouquet (ranging up to pure carmine and Prussian blue) standing out against a striking lemon yellow background with other yellow tones in the vase and the base on which it rests is an effect of terribly disparate complementaries that reinforce each other by their opposition… .

“The day I leave depends on my having packed my trunk and finished my canvases, I’m working on the latter with so much enthusiasm that packing my trunk seems more difficult to me than doing the paintings. Anyway it won’t be long.“