Almond Blossom

Vincent van Gogh

Oil on canvas

Van Gogh Museum

Painted in February 1890 while Van Gogh was residing at the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Almond Blossom depicts sweeping branches of a flowering almond tree set against a vivid blue sky. The composition is strikingly close-up and flat, borrowing from the formal vocabulary of Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints — bold outlines, the absence of a horizon line, and large areas of luminous color — rendered in Van Gogh's characteristic oil-on-canvas technique. Van Gogh, the Dutch Post-Impressionist master, created the work as a gift to celebrate the birth of his nephew and namesake, Vincent Willem van Gogh, son of his brother and steadfast supporter Theo. The painting stands apart within Van Gogh's oeuvre for its exceptional serenity and technical refinement, and is widely regarded as one of the most personally significant works of his career.