Women Picking Olives | Vincent van Gogh | All | European Paintings | Collection Database | Works of Art

Gallery LabelAt the end of 1889, Van Gogh painted three versions of this picture of women gathering olives. He described the first as an on-the-spot study "in deeper tones from nature" (private collection) and distinguished the second as a studio rendition in a "very discreet color scheme" (National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.). The present work, the most resolved and stylized of the three, was intended for his sister and mother, to whom Van Gogh wrote: "I hope that the picture of the women in the orchard of olive trees will be a little to your liking—I sent a drawing of it to Gauguin, . . . and he thinks it good. . . ."

Provenancethe artist's brother Theo van Gogh, Paris (1890–d. 1891; sent to him by the artist on January 3, 1890); his widow, Johanna van Gogh-Bonger, Amsterdam, in trust for their son, Vincent Willem van Gogh (1891–95; sold with six other paintings for 384 guilders to Moline); [Lucien Moline, Paris, from 1895]; Bernard Goudchaux, Paris; Dikran Kelekian, Paris and New York (by 1920–36; his sale, American Art Galleries, New York, January 30–31, 1922, no. 157, bought in for $4,400 by Joseph Brummer for Kelekian; sold on October 25, 1936 to Wildenstein); [Wildenstein, 1936–37; sold on July 13, 1937 for £5,000 to Schuster]; Sir Victor Schuster, London (1937; returned on November 1 to Wildenstein in exchange for "Olive Trees" by Van Gogh [MMA 1998.325.1]); [Wildenstein, London, from 1937]; A. Stoll (until no later than 1943; sold to Wildenstein); [Wildenstein, by 1943–49, stock no. 16404; sold on December 13, 1949 to Haupt]; Mr. and Mrs. Ira Haupt, New York (1949–his d. 1963); Mrs. Enid A. Haupt, New York (1963–83; sold in 1983 to Annenberg); her brother and his wife, Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg, Rancho Mirage, Calif. (1983–95; jointly with MMA, 1995–his d. 2002; his bequest to MMA)

Exhibition History

Brooklyn Museum. "Paintings by Modern French Masters Representing the Post Impressionists and their Predecessors," March 26–April 25, 1921, no. 216 (as "Gathering Olives," lent by D. G. Kelekian).

New York. Wildenstein & Co., Inc.. "Six Masters of Post-Impressionism," April 8–May 8, 1948, no. 68 (as "Gathering of Olives," lent by Wildenstein).

Cleveland Museum of Art. "Work by Vincent van Gogh," November 3–December 12, 1948, no. 27 (as "Women Gathering Olives [La Cuillette (sic) des Olives]," lent by Wildenstein, New York).

New York. Wildenstein & Co., Inc.. "Van Gogh," March 24–April 30, 1955, no. 60 (as "Olive Pickers," lent by Mr. and Mrs. Ira Haupt).

New York. Parke-Bernet. "Art Treasures Exhibition," June 16–30, 1955, no. 356 (as "La Cueillette des Olives," lent by Mrs. Ira Haupt).

New York. Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. "Van Gogh and Expressionism," July 1–September 13, 1964, unnum. brochure (as "Olive Pickers," lent by a private collection, New York).

New York. M. Knoedler & Co.. "Impressionist Treasures from Private Collections in New York," January 12–29, 1966, no. 12 (as "Olive Picking," lent by Enid A. Haupt).

Philadelphia Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of Impressionism & Post-Impressionism: The Annenberg Collection," May 21–September 17, 1989, unnumbered cat.

Washington. National Gallery of Art. "Masterpieces of Impressionism & Post-Impressionism: The Annenberg Collection," May 6–August 5, 1990, unnumbered cat.

Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of Impressionism & Post-Impressionism: The Annenberg Collection," August 16–November 11, 1990, unnumbered cat.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of Impressionism & Post-Impressionism: The Annenberg Collection," June 4–October 13, 1991, unnumbered cat.

References

Vincent van Gogh. Letter to his brother Theo. [about December 15, 1889] [published in "The Complete Letters of Vincent van Gogh," 3 vols., Greenwich, Conn., 1958, vol. 3, pp. 236–37, letter no. 617].

Vincent van Gogh. Letter to his mother, Anna van Gogh-Carbentus. [about December 20, 1889] [published in "The Complete Letters of Vincent van Gogh," 3 vols., Greenwich, Conn., 1958, vol. 3, p. 240, letter no. 619].

Vincent van Gogh. Letter to his sister Willemien. [about December 20, 1889] [published in "The Complete Letters of Vincent van Gogh," 3 vols., Greenwich, Conn., 1958, vol. 3, p. 464, letter no. W18].

Vincent van Gogh. Letter to his sister Willemien. [January 20, 1890] [published in "The Complete Letters of Vincent van Gogh," 3 vols., Greenwich, Conn., 1958, vol. 3, p. 465, letter no. W19].

Vincent van Gogh. Letter to his brother Theo. [January 3, 1890] [published in "The Complete Letters of Vincent van Gogh," 3 vols., Greenwich, Conn., 1958, vol. 3, p. 243, letter no. 621].

Vincent van Gogh. Letter to his sister Willemien. [January 4, 1890] [published in "The Complete Letters of Vincent van Gogh," 3 vols., Greenwich, Conn., 1958, vol. 3, p. 464, letter no. W17].

Lucien Moline. Letters to Johanna van Gogh-Bonger. December 17 and 20, 1895 [Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam].

Introduction by Arsène Alexandre. Collection Kélékian: tableaux de l'école française moderne. Paris, 1920, unpaginated, pl. 69.

J.-B. de La Faille. L'Oeuvre de Vincent van Gogh: Catalogue Raisonné. Paris, 1928, vol. 1, p. 186, no. 655; vol. 2, pl. 183.

W. Scherjon. Catalogue des tableaux par Vincent van Gogh décrits dans ses lettres. Périodes: St. Rémy et Auvers sur Oise. Utrecht, 1932, pp. 76–77, no. 70, ill.

Louis Pierard. Vincent van Gogh. Paris, 1936, unpaginated, no. 45, ill.

W. Scherjon and Jos. De Gruyter. Vincent van Gogh's Great Period: Arles, St. Rémy and Auvers sur Oise (complete catalogue). Amsterdam, 1937, pp. 266–67, St. Rémy no. 70, ill.

J.-B. de La Faille. Vincent van Gogh. London, [1939], pp. 458, 559, 577, 588, no. 665, ill.

Werner Weisbach. Vincent van Gogh: Kunst und Schicksal. 2, Basel, [1951], pp. 162–63.

M. E. Tralbaut. "Twee onuitgegeven documenten." De Tafelronde 2, nos. 8–9 (1955), pp. 7–8.

John Rewald. Post-Impressionism: From Van Gogh to Gauguin. [1st ed.]. New York, 1956, p. 358, ill. [3rd, rev. ed., 1978, p. 330, ill. p. 333].

H. R. Graetz. The Symbolic Language of Vincent van Gogh. New York, 1963, p. 222, pl. 86.

Paolo Lecaldano. "Da Arles a Auvers." L'opera pittorica completa di Van Gogh e i suoi nessi grafici. 2, repr. [1st ed., 1966]. Milan, 1977, pp. 224–25, no. 744, ill.

Charles Sterling and Margaretta M. Salinger. "XIX–XX Centuries." French Paintings: A Catalogue of the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 3, New York, 1967, p. 190.

J.-B. de La Faille. The Works of Vincent van Gogh: His Paintings and Drawings. Amsterdam, 1970, pp. 258–59, 637, no. 655, ill.

Wesley Towner completed by Stephen Varble. The Elegant Auctioneers. New York, 1970, p. 330.

Hope Benedict Werness. "Essays on van Gogh's Symbolism." PhD diss., University of California, Santa Barbara, 1972, pp. 160–62, n. 8.

Matthias Arnold. "Duktus und Bildform bei Vincent van Gogh." PhD diss., Ruprecht-Karl University, Heidelberg, 1973, p. 191 n. 305.

John Rewald. "Should Hoving Be De-accessioned?" Art in America 61 (January–February 1973), p. 28.

Jan Hulsker. The Complete Van Gogh: Paintings, Drawings, Sketches. [1st ed., Amsterdam, 1977]. New York, 1980, pp. 428–30, no. 1869, ill.

Ronald Pickvance The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Van Gogh in Saint-Rémy and Auvers. New York, 1986, pp. 16–17, 53, 55, 98, 304, 318, ill. p. 306.

Juleke van Lindert in The Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh. Amsterdam, 1987, p. 274.

Johannes van der Wolk. The Seven Sketchbooks of Vincent van Gogh. New York, 1987, p. 308.

Roland Dorn in Vincent van Gogh and the Modern Movement: 1890–1914. Exh. cat., Museum Folkwang, Essen. Freren, Germany, 1990, p. 155 n. 2, p. 158.

Jan Hulsker. Vincent and Theo van Gogh: A Dual Biography. Trans. and rev. ed. [1st ed. Weesp, Holland, 1985]. Ann Arbor, Mich., 1990, p. 386.

Jérôme Coignard. "Le Salon de peinture de Mr. et Mrs. Annenberg." Beaux arts no. 92 (July–August 1991), p. 72.

Joseph J. Rishel in Masterpieces of Impressionism & Post-Impressionism: The Annenberg Collection. Exh. cat., Philadelphia Museum of Art. Philadelphia, 1991, pp. 108–9, 111, 200–201, ill. (color and b&w) [1st edition has different page numbers].

Jan Hulsker. Vincent van Gogh: A Guide to His Work and Letters. Amsterdam, 1993, pp. 42–43, 56–57, 76.

Jan Hulsker. The New Complete Van Gogh: Paintings, Drawings, Sketches. rev. ed. Amsterdam, 1996, pp. 428, 430, no. 1869, ill.

Susan Alyson Stein in "Recent Acquisitions, A Selection: 1995–1996." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 54 (Fall 1996), p. 46, ill. (color).

Sjraar van Heugten. "Nuenen, 1883–1885." Vincent van Gogh, Drawings. 2, Amsterdam, 1997, p. 237 n. 8.

Ira Berkow. "Jewels in the Desert." Art News 97 (May 1998), p. 147.

Griselda Pollock in "On Not Seeing Provence: Van Gogh and the Landscape of Consolation, 1888–9." Framing France: The Representation of Landscape in France, 1870–1914. Manchester, 1998, p. 105.

Ronald Pickvance. Van Gogh. Exh. cat., Fondation Pierre Gianadda. Martigny, 2000, pp. 46, 101.

Douglas Druick and Peter Kort Zegers et al. Van Gogh and Gauguin: The Studio of the South. Exh. cat., Art Institute of Chicago. New York, 2001, pp. 320–21, fig. 89 (color).

Chris Stolwijk and Han Veenenbos. The Account Book of Theo van Gogh and Jo van Gogh-Bonger. Amsterdam, 2002, pp. 47, 105, 142, 181, 183, ill.

Teio Meedendorp in The Paintings of Vincent van Gogh in the Collection of the Kröller-Müller Museum. Otterlo, 2003, p. 331 n. 1.

Viviane Rose Universite de Toulouse-Le-Mirail. "Peinture et affectivité (Monet, Cézanne, van Gogh)." Temps, Affect, Sensation: de Cézanne à Matisse. 1, Lille, [2003], pp. 229–30.

Laura Ann Coyle. "The Still-Life Paintings of Vincent van Gogh and Their Context." PhD diss., Princeton University, September 2007, p. 477 n. 1266.

Belinda Thomson. Van Gogh Painter: The Masterpieces. Amsterdam, 2007, pp. 160, 162–64, fig. 150 (color).

Marije Vellekoop, and Roelie Zwikker, with the assistance of Monique Hageman. "Arles, Saint-Rémy & Auvers-sur-Oise, 1888–90." Vincent van Gogh, Drawings. 4, Zwolle, The Netherlands, 2007, part 1, p. 27 n. 136.

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