View of the Asylum and Chapel of Saint-Rémy

Painted at Saint-Rémy in late 1889, this view of the asylum and its Romanesque chapel records Van Gogh's immediate surroundings during his voluntary confinement at Saint-Paul-de-Mausole. He described the ancient chapel in letters to Theo, noting that its worn stone and enclosed garden gave him subjects when he could not leave the asylum grounds. The painting is both topographic record and emotional reflection — the ancient architecture a counterpoint to his personal crisis. Van Gogh's capacity to find beauty in his confined circumstances is one of the remarkable aspects of the Saint-Rémy period.

Stone architecture is rendered with firm directional brushstrokes that emphasise solidity and texture. The surrounding vegetation is painted with flowing, organic marks in deep greens and blues. The sky is worked in sinuous parallel strokes, foreshadowing the turbulent skies of Starry Night. Ochre tones of the ancient stone are modelled with thick layering.