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The Rock of Montmajour with Pine Trees, 1888
Montmajour’s rocky outcrops, with small pine trees and shrubs clinging wherever they could, inspired some of ‘the best’ reed-pen drawings of Van Gogh’s career. In this dramatic view, he includes an obscured glimpse of Arles on the far left. In Zola’s novel, the Abbé, who has forgotten his vows of chastity due to amnesia, occupies the wild paradise of Le Paradou with his lover, distanced from the realities of daily life.
Pencil, pen, reed pen, brush and black ink, on wove paper
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)