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A Trunk of a Tree, 1888
Using the top edge of the paper to crop this virtuoso depiction of a tree, Van Gogh adopts the bold compositional devices found in Japanese woodblock prints. He had been collecting such prints during his time in Paris, and greatly admired the Japanese approach to drawing and mark-making in translating the natural world onto paper.
Pen and sepia ink on buff paper
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, 95.33