Landscape with Olive Tree and Mountains in the Background

Van Gogh's Landscape with Olive Tree and Mountains in the Background, painted at Saint-Rémy in 1889, captures the characteristic elements of the Provençal landscape that surrounded the asylum — the ancient olive trees, the limestone outcrops of the Alpilles, the specific quality of Mediterranean light on this ancient agricultural landscape. The olive tree in the foreground and the mountains behind create the compositional structure within which Van Gogh develops his most intense landscape painting. The work is currently in a private collection or unlocated.

The olive tree occupies the foreground with Van Gogh's characteristically animated rendering — twisted trunk and silver-gray foliage built from varied swirling strokes. The Alpilles mountains in the background are rendered with atmospheric restraint, the cooler tones of distance contrasting with the warmer foreground. His palette captures the Mediterranean landscape's characteristic combination of warm earth and cool sky.