Art. A form of entertainment admired by everyone.

A young woman is shown in Vincent van Gogh’s painting “Girl in White” standing in front of a green wheat field while donning a huge yellow hat with a knot of sky-blue ribbons. In the latter months of his life, Vincent van Gogh painted this scene in Auvers-sur-Oise, France, in 1890.

Van Gogh flew to Paris from Saint-Rémy in May 1890 and spent three days there with his brother Theo, Johanna, and their infant Vincent. Unlike his previous visits to Paris, Van Gogh discovered that he was no longer accustomed to the city’s hubbub and was too agitated to paint. Van Gogh’s brother Theo and the artist Pissarro devised a plan for him to visit Auvers-sur-Oise with a letter of introduction for the local homeopath and art supporter Dr. Paul Gachet. Van Gogh resided at the Auberge Ravoux inn in Auvers and was looked after by Dr. Gachet, with whom he developed a deep bond and described as “almost like another brother.”

Van Gogh expressed his enjoyment of a study he had created for Girl in a Wood or Girl in White in the Woods and explained how he wanted to arouse the viewer’s senses and influence how they would view the painting: “The other study in the wood is of some large green beech trunks on a stretch of ground covered in dry sticks, and the little figure of a girl in white.

Van Gogh’s other MASTEPIECES

The Starry Night

Café Terrace at Night

Vincent van Gogh’s Letters