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Olive Trees, 1889
Looking down onto the earth and shadows cast by a grove of olives, Van Gogh began this picture working outdoors in June 1889. But in September, he reworked and changed it in the studio to intensify the work's highly textured surface. Although the yellows, pinks and reds, which heightened the colour contrasts throughout, have since degraded and almost disappeared, the picture remains remarkably expressive.
Oil on canvas
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri (Purchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust) 32-2