Sunset at Montmajour

Painted in August 1888 near Arles, this canvas was rediscovered in a Norwegian private collection in 2013 after more than a century of uncertain attribution. Montmajour is a ruined Benedictine abbey on a rocky outcrop near Arles that Van Gogh visited repeatedly, describing its views to Theo in enthusiastic letters. He sketched and painted the site numerous times. The rediscovery and authentication of this work — confirmed by the Van Gogh Museum — was one of the most significant art historical events of the early 21st century, adding a major painting to his catalogue.

The composition divides into a vast, luminous sky occupying more than half the canvas and a low, richly textured landscape below. Thick impasto in warm golds, ochres, and greens records the sun-bleached Provençal scrubland. The sky is worked with long, sweeping strokes that convey the heat and openness of the southern afternoon.