Flowering orchard, surrounded by cypress

Painted in spring 1888 at Arles, this view of a blossoming orchard surrounded by cypress trees belongs to Van Gogh's celebrated series of Provençal orchard paintings — some of the most joyful works he ever made. Having just arrived in the south after his grey Paris winter, Van Gogh was overwhelmed by the Provençal spring and made over a dozen paintings of blossoming fruit trees in rapid succession. The cypress — tall, dark, flame-shaped — appears here as a counterpoint to the soft, white and pink blossom, a combination that would become characteristic of his southern work.

Van Gogh uses short, comma-like strokes to render the blossom, giving the trees a feathery, delicate texture against the blue sky. The dark mass of the cypress provides a strong vertical anchor. The palette is keyed to spring — fresh greens, pink and white blossom, with the warm yellows of sunlit ground.