Les Alyscamps: Falling Autumn Leaves

Van Gogh painted the Alyscamps — an ancient Roman-era burial ground and medieval necropolis in Arles lined with sarcophagi and shaded by plane trees — in late October 1888 while Gauguin was visiting. The two painters worked side by side at this site, and comparing their respective treatments illuminates their fundamental differences: Gauguin's classicizing, almost coldly organized version against Van Gogh's emotionally charged, vibrating interpretation. The falling autumn leaves, golden against the dark trunks and sarcophagal stone, gave Van Gogh chromatic material of exceptional richness. This Kröller-Müller version is among the most beautiful of his Arles autumnal works.

The avenue of plane trees recedes in perspective, the falling and fallen leaves creating a carpet of gold and orange. Van Gogh renders the trees with energetic vertical and diagonal brushwork, while the leaves are painted in warm yellows and ambers. The sarcophagi line the path with cool gray-stone solidity. The composition manages depth and pattern simultaneously.