Le Mont Gaussier with the Mas de Saint-Paul

Van Gogh's Le Mont Gaussier with the Mas de Saint-Paul, painted at Saint-Rémy in 1889, depicts the mountain visible from the asylum grounds and the farmhouse that was part of the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole estate. This view of the local landscape — the specific topography of the Alpilles range and the agricultural buildings within it — was one Van Gogh could observe repeatedly from his position at the asylum. He made several studies of this mountain and its surroundings, finding in the familiar view material for sustained landscape observation. The work is currently in a private collection.

The mountain provides a strong geometric form against the sky, its limestone mass rendered with Van Gogh's characteristically energetic brushwork. The farmhouse below gives the composition human scale and domestic warmth against the natural mass above. His Saint-Rémy palette captures the characteristic colors of Provençal limestone and Mediterranean vegetation — ochres, blue-greens, and the vivid blue of the southern sky.