For Immediate Release Van Gogh in Saint-Remy And
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ARCHIVES The Metropolitan Museum of Art 82nd Street and Fifth Avenue 3 COPIES New York, New York 10028 (212) 879-5500 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE VAN GOGH IN SAINT-REMY AND AUVERS TO OPEN THIS FALL AT METROPOLITAN MUSEUM Exhibition Dates: November 25, 1986 through March 22, 1987 The Metropolitan Museum of Art will present Van Gogh in Saint-Remy and Auvers from November 25, 1986, to March 22, 1987. This is the second of two exhibitions devoted to Vincent van Gogh's most creative and prolific years. The last fourteen months of van Gogh's life, to be explored in this new exhibition, have never before been the subject of a comprehensive study. Van Gogh in Saint-Remy and Auvers will include about 70 paintings and 18 drawings lent by many museums and private collections, including the Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh in Amsterdam and the Rijksmuseum Kroller-Muller in Otterlo. The exhibition has been made possible by E F Hutton & Company, The Florence J. Gould Foundation, and the Robert Wood Johnson, Jr. Charitable Trust. Philippe de Montebello, Director of the Metropolitan Museum, commented, "Van Gogh's work from this difficult period of his life offers a unique opportunity to better understand the artist's development subsequent to the Aries period. The exhibition will present a dialogue between Saint-Remy in the south of France and Auvers, just north of Paris; between South and North; between van Gogh's intense love of Provence and his Dutch heritage, between his avant-garde concerns and his increasing nostalgia for romanticism." (more) Van Gogh in Saint-Remy and Auvers Page 2 As a logical sequel to van Gogh in Aries, this forthcoming exhibition will present the culmination of Vincent van Gogh's artistic career. Van Gogh in Saint-Remy and Auvers will also be a systematic and chronological review of this period in the artist's life. The exhibition will open with an examination of works produced by van Gogh while he was hospitalized in the asylum at Saint-Remy; it will conclude with his stay in Auvers, where he was cared for by Dr. Gachet and where he committed suicide in July 1890. Such well-known masterpieces as Cypresses and The Starry Night were done during these final months of his life and are included in the exhibition. As shown during the Aries period, van Gogh's art was acutely affected by his environment. This was especially true of his hospitalization in Saint-Remy. There his mobility was restricted, which explains his choice of subject matter--the hospital gardens, the neighboring landscapes, cypresses, and olive orchards. During his final months in Auvers he was afforded greater freedom of movement, and he turned to the surrounding countryside for his subjects. It was during this period that he created paintings of a thick, impasto style with swirling strokes, such as Crows over the Wheat Field. Ronald Pickvance, Guest Curator for van Gogh in Aries, has again selected the paintings and drawings in consultation with the staff of the Department of European Paintings. Professor Pickvance, who wrote the catalogue for the previous exhibition, is also preparing a fully illustrated publication for Van Gogh in Saint-Remy and Auvers. Susan Alyson Stein, Research Associate in the European Paintings Department, is once again coordinating the exhibition. (End) FOR FURTHER INFORMATION please contact John Ross or Hilda Rodriguez, Public Information Department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Tel: (212) 879-5500 April 1986 .