Trunk of an Old Yew Tree

Van Gogh's Trunk of an Old Yew Tree, painted at Arles in 1888, focuses with intense attention on a single venerable tree trunk — its texture, its gnarled age, the specific character of the yew's dark bark. Close study of individual natural forms was a practice Van Gogh maintained throughout his career, from the birds' nests of Nuenen to the botanical studies of Saint-Rémy, and this yew trunk continues that tradition in the south. The yew's associations with longevity and death may have resonated with Van Gogh's awareness of mortality during the Arles period. The work is currently unlocated or in private hands.

The yew trunk is rendered with intense close observation of its texture — the rough, ridged bark, the tree's characteristic dark coloring. Van Gogh's brushwork on the trunk is among his most texturally varied, building the bark's surface through multiple layers of differently directed strokes. The palette captures the specific dark reddish-brown of yew bark.