Editing Vincent van Gogh (section)

====Orchards====
{{See also|Flowering Orchards}}

The ''[[Flowering Orchards]]'' (also the ''Orchards in Blossom'') are among the first groups of work completed after Van Gogh's arrival in Arles in February 1888. The 14 paintings are optimistic, joyous and visually expressive of the burgeoning spring. They are delicately sensitive and unpopulated. He painted swiftly, and although he brought to this series a version of Impressionism, a strong sense of personal style began to emerge during this period. The transience of the blossoming trees, and the passing of the season, seemed to align with his sense of impermanence and belief in a new beginning in Arles. During the blossoming of the trees that spring, he found "a world of motifs that could not have been more Japanese".{{sfnp|Walther|Metzger|1994|loc= 331–333}} Vincent wrote to Theo on 21 April 1888 that he had 10 orchards and "one big [painting] of a cherry tree, which I've spoiled".{{sfnp|Pickvance|1984|loc=45–53}}

During this period Van Gogh mastered the use of light by subjugating shadows and painting the trees as if they are the source of light – almost in a sacred manner.{{sfnp|Walther|Metzger|1994|loc= 331–333}} Early the following year he painted another smaller group of orchards, including ''[[View of Arles, Flowering Orchards]]''.{{sfnp|Hulsker|1980|loc=385}} Van Gogh was enthralled by the landscape and vegetation of the south of France, and often visited the farm gardens near Arles. In the vivid light of the [[Mediterranean climate]] his palette significantly brightened.{{sfnp|Fell |1997|loc= 32}}

<gallery widths="165" heights="165" class="center">
File:Vincent Willem van Gogh 014.jpg|alt=A watercolour of two pink peach trees in a blossoming orchard of trees near a wooden fence under a bright blue sky|''Pink Peach Tree in Blossom (Reminiscence of Mauve)'', watercolour, March 1888. Kröller-Müller Museum
File:Vincent van Gogh - De roze boomgaard - Google Art Project.jpg|alt=A painting of a blossoming orchard of trees under a bright blue sky.|''The Pink Orchard'' also ''Orchard with Blossoming Apricot Trees'', March 1888. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
File:Van Gogh - Blühender Obstgarten, von Zypressen umgeben.jpeg|alt=A painting of a blossoming orchard of many trees near wooden fences bordered by large cypress trees under a bright blue sky.|''Orchard in Blossom, Bordered by Cypresses'', April 1888. Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, Netherlands
File:Vincent Van Gogh 0018.jpg|alt=A close view of three blossoming trees behind which can be seen a large orchard and field in which a man is working, a village filled with buildings and houses in the background, under a bright sky|''[[View of Arles, Flowering Orchards]]'', April 1889. [[Neue Pinakothek]], Munich 
</gallery>