Editing Vincent van Gogh (section)

====Auvers-sur-Oise (May–July 1890)====
{{See also|Houses at Auvers|Auvers size 30 canvases|Double-squares and Squares}}
[[File:Vincent van Gogh - Les Vessenots à Auvers (1890).jpg|thumb|left|''Les Vessenots à Auvers'', 1890. [[Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum]], Madrid, painted weeks before the artist's death]]

In May 1890, Van Gogh left the clinic in Saint-Rémy to move nearer to both [[Paul Gachet|Dr Paul Gachet]] in the Paris suburb of [[Auvers-sur-Oise]] and to Theo. Gachet was an amateur painter and had treated several other artists – [[Camille Pissarro]] had recommended him. Van Gogh's first impression was that Gachet was "iller than I am, it seemed to me, or let's say just as much."{{sfnp|Van Gogh|2009|loc=[http://vangoghletters.org/vg/letters/RM20/letter.html Letter RM20]|ps= . Vincent to Theo and Jo van Gogh-Bonger. Auvers-sur-Oise, Saturday, 24 May 1890.}}

The painter [[Charles-François Daubigny|Charles Daubigny]] moved to Auvers in 1861 and in turn drew other artists there, including [[Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot|Camille Corot]] and [[Honoré Daumier]]. In July 1890, Van Gogh completed two paintings of ''[[Daubigny's Garden]]'', one of which is likely his final work.{{sfnp|Pickvance|1986|loc= 270–271}}

[[File:Vincent van Gogh - The Church in Auvers-sur-Oise, View from the Chevet - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|''[[The Church at Auvers]]'', 1890. Musée d'Orsay, Paris]]
During his last weeks at Saint-Rémy, his thoughts returned to "[[Houses at Auvers#"Reminisces of the North"|memories of the North]]",{{sfnp|Van Gogh|2009|loc=[http://vangoghletters.org/vg/letters/let863/letter.html letter 863]|ps= . Theo van Gogh to Vincent, Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Tuesday, 29 April 1890.}} and several of the approximately 70 oils, painted during as many days in Auvers-sur-Oise, are reminiscent of northern scenes.{{sfnp|Rosenblum|1975 |loc= 98–100}} In June 1890, he painted several portraits of his doctor, including ''[[Portrait of Dr. Gachet|Portrait of Dr Gachet]]'', and his only [[etching]]. In each the emphasis is on Gachet's melancholic disposition.{{sfnp|Walther|Metzger|1994|loc= 640}} There are other paintings which are probably unfinished, including ''[[Farms near Auvers (Van Gogh)|Thatched Cottages by a Hill]].''{{sfnp|Pickvance|1986|loc= 270–271}}

In July, Van Gogh wrote that he had become absorbed "in the immense plain against the hills, boundless as the sea, delicate yellow".{{sfnp|Edwards|1989|loc=115}} He had first become captivated by the fields in May, when the wheat was young and green. In July, he described to Theo "vast fields of wheat under turbulent skies".{{sfnp|Van Gogh|2009|loc=[http://vangoghletters.org/vg/letters/let898/letter.html Letter 898]|ps= . Vincent to Theo van Gogh and Jo van Gogh-Bonger. Auvers-sur-Oise, on or about Thursday, 10 July 1890.}}

He wrote that they represented his "sadness and extreme loneliness" and that the "canvases will tell you what I cannot say in words, that is, how healthy and invigorating I find the countryside".{{refn|{{harvp|Van Gogh|2009|loc=[http://vangoghletters.org/vg/letters/let898/letter.html Letter 898]|ps= . Vincent to Theo van Gogh and Jo van Gogh-Bonger. Auvers-sur-Oise, on or about Thursday, 10 July 1890}}; {{harvp|Rosenblum|1975 |loc= 100.}}}} ''[[Wheatfield with Crows]]'', although not his last oil work, is from July 1890 and Hulsker discusses it as being associated with "melancholy and extreme loneliness".{{sfnp|Hulsker|1990|loc=478–479}} Hulsker identifies seven oil paintings from Auvers that follow the completion of ''Wheatfield with Crows''.{{sfnp|Hulsker|1990|loc=472–480}} Hulsker also expressed concern about the number of paintings attributed to Van Gogh from the period.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1 July 1997 |title=At least 45 van Goghs may well be fakes: The Art Newspaper investigates |url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/1997/07/01/at-least-45-van-goghs-may-well-be-fakes-the-art-newspaper-investigates |access-date=7 March 2024 |website=The Art Newspaper - International art news and events |quote=Citing van Gogh’s period in Auvers-sur-Oise, he pointed out that “the number of paintings attributed to van Gogh far exceeds the amount of work he could have done in the 70 days he stayed there before his death.” Mr Hulsker catalogues 76 oil paintings from Auvers, which represents just over one a day.}}</ref>