Sunset at Montmajour 1888

This is Vincent van Gogh’s, Sunset at Montmajour. Here, Van Gogh captures the landscape around Montmajour Abbey in France in the late 1880s, a period of intense artistic exploration for him. The image creates meaning through its vivid colors and dynamic brushstrokes, reflecting Van Gogh's emotional response to the natural world, and departs from traditional academic landscape painting. Consider the social context. Van Gogh, though living amongst the working class, paints landscapes, turning away from the social realism that dominated French art at that time. He spent time in mental asylums around this time, and art historians have explored the relationship between his mental state and his artistic output. His letters, now published, provide insights into his state of mind, and enable us to understand the artist and the environment in which he created the art.