Collections: European Art: Cypresses (Les Cyprès)

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Cypresses (Les Cyprès)

Vincent van Gogh's rich correspondence with his brother Theo permits a rare insight into the conception and development of his works. Writing on the subject of cypresses, the focus of a number of works, van Gogh expressed his intense feelings about these majestic trees: "The cypresses are always occupying my thoughts; I should like to make something of them, because it astonishes me that they have not been done as I see them. It is as beautiful in lines and proportions as an Egyptian obelisk, and the green is of so distinguished a quality. It is a splash of black in a sunny landscape, but is one of the most interesting black notes, and the most difficult to hit off exactly that I can imagine."

The monumentality and free style of this drawing, made after a painting of the same subject (now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art), place it among the artist's finest works on paper.


• Artist: Vincent van Gogh, Dutch, 1853-1890
• Medium: Reed pen, graphite, quill, and brown and black ink on white wove Latune et Cie Balcons paper
• Place Made: France
• Dates: June 1889
• Dimensions: 24 3/8 x 18 5/8 in. (61.9 x 47.3 cm) Other: 24 1/2 x 18in. (62.2 x 45.7cm)
• Collections: European Art
• Museum Location: This item is not on view
• Accession Number: 38.123
• Credit Line: Frank L. Babbott Fund and the A. Augustus Healy Fund
• Image: Overall, 38.123_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853-1890). Cypresses (Les Cyprès), June 1889. Reed pen, graphite, quill, and brown and black ink on white wove Latune et Cie Balcons paper, 24 3/8 x 18 5/8 in. (61.9 x 47.3 cm) Other: 24 1/2 x 18in. (62.2 x 45.7cm). Brooklyn Museum, Frank L. Babbott Fund and the A. Augustus Healy Fund, 38.123 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 38.123_SL1.jpg)