Center Piece For A Second Triptych: Blossoming Pear Tree
Van Gogh chose Blossoming Pear Tree as the center piece of a grouping, however there's no information linking this painting to any others.
Van Gogh Museum described Van Gogh's approach and technique when he made Blossoming Pear Tree, "He chose a high vantage point, creating a contrast between the angular trunk and branches with their dark, heavy contours and the light background. A stone wall and a few trees can be seen to the rear, while to the left is a fence in front of a garden near a pink-yellow house. The large, flat yellow butterfly among the flowers to the right of the trunk is also noteworthy. The decorative painting, with the small tree in the foreground, the high vantage point and the lack of depth, is strongly influenced by the art of the Japanese printmakers, which Van Gogh admired enormously." It is difficult to overstate the impact that Japanese art had on Van Gogh. In a letter to Theo, Van Gogh wrote, "All my work is in a way founded on Japanese art, and we do not know enough about Japanese prints. In decadence in its own country, pigeonholed in collections already impossible to find in Japan itself, Japanese art is taking root again among French Impressionist artists."
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Blossoming Pear Tree, 73 x 46 cm,
March, 1888
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (F405)
Read more about this topic: Flowering Orchards (Van Gogh Series)
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