The place where Vincent van Gogh painted his very last painting Tree roots made was discovered after 130 years. The location was unveiled this morning in the French village of Auvers-sur-Oise, where the artist spent the last seventy days of his life. A long-lost radio interview has also been found with a witness of Van Gogh’s last weeks.
Wouter van der Veen, scientific director of the Institut Van Gogh, is the man behind the two discoveries. News hour traveled to France last month to speak to him. He then said that he was the place where Van Gogh looked at the abstract Tree roots painted, discovered by accident on a 1900-1910 postcard of Auvers-sur-Oise.
“On the map, which I had on my computer, you see a man with a bicycle in his hand and behind it a hill with a striking tree structure.” He reminded Van der Veen of the whimsical motif of the painting. “The agreements were very clear to me. The place is less than 150 meters from the Ravoux inn where Van Gogh stayed at the time.”
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Left the postcard and right ‘Tree Roots’
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The postcard of Auvers-sur-Oise on which Van der Veen discovered the location
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Tree Roots – Vincent van Gogh, July 1890
Van Gogh Museum
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Van Gogh made Tree roots on July 27, 1890, just hours before attempting a suicide. The work, which is unfinished, shows a slope with tree trunks and roots. These are coppice trees on top of a marl excavation, such as those around Auvers-sur-Oise. There has been speculation about the loaded painting for decades.
Van der Veen did extensive research before submitting his discovery to the Van Gogh Museum, where the painting hangs. “The find seemed very likely to us,” said Louis van Tilborgh, senior researcher at the museum. He recommended that tree and forest historian Bert Maes also have a look at it. He confirmed the suspicions.
“Although the situation on the postcard is about twenty years later, you see Tree roots very clearly the same configuration back from the coppice on a steep edge of chalk, “says Maes.” Coppice is a form of forestry in which the new growth is chopped off again and again before use. The great thing is that there is even a stump left over that is still recognizable after 130 years. “
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You could say that Van Gogh’s painted farewell letter is now truly legible.
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“The representation of coppice must have symbolized life and death for Van Gogh,” says Van Tilborgh. “As if he wanted to say: I have lived and I have struggled, against oppression.”
Van Tilborgh can look back on 34 years of research with satisfaction. “Everything around the mysterious Tree roots has been mapped. We know the place, know the motive and think we understand the meaning. “Van der Veen:” You could say that Van Gogh’s painted farewell letter is now really legible. “
Radio interview with model Van Gogh
Van der Veen also came across a long-lost radio interview from 1953 with Adeline Ravoux. Her father ran the Ravoux inn, where Van Gogh spent the last seventy days of his life. In the interview she tells how she, as a 13-year-old girl, brought the artist his food and also posed for him.
It resulted in the famous painting Symphony in blue. She also remembers Van Gogh’s last days after the attempted suicide. Van der Veen: “It is touching to hear the voice of a real witness. You can’t get closer to the artist.”
Listen to the radio fragment here:
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