Exhibition Tour — Van Gogh's Cypresses | Met Exhibitions

Join curator Susan Alyson Stein in a virtual exploration of the exhibition Van Gogh’s Cypresses.

Join Susan Alyson Stein, Engelhard Curator of Nineteenth-Century European Painting, to virtually explore Van Gogh’s Cypresses, the first exhibition to focus on the trees—among the most famous in the history of art—immortalized in signature images by Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890).

Such iconic pictures as Wheat Field with Cypresses and The Starry Night take their place as the centerpiece in a presentation that affords an unprecedented perspective on a motif virtually synonymous with the Dutch artist’s fiercely original power of expression. Some 40 works illuminate the extent of his fascination with the region’s distinctive flamelike evergreens as they successively sparked, fueled, and stoked his imagination over the course of two years in the South of France: from his initial sightings of the “tall and dark” trees in Arles to realizing their full, evocative potential (“as I see them”) at the asylum in Saint-Rémy.

Juxtaposing landmark paintings with precious drawings and illustrated letters—many rarely, if ever, lent or exhibited together—this tightly conceived thematic exhibition offers an extraordinary opportunity to appreciate anew some of Van Gogh’s most celebrated works in a context that reveals the backstory of their invention for the first time.

On view: May 22nd - August 27th, 2023

Learn more about the exhibition: https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/van-gogh-cypresses

The exhibition is made possible by the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation.

Additional support is provided by the Janice H. Levin Fund, Katharine Rayner, and the Aaron I. Fleischman and Lin Lougheed Fund.

This exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

The catalogue is made possible by the Janice H. Levin Fund.

Additional support is provided by Adrian Sassoon and Edmund Burke.

The catalogue is available for purchase at store.metmuseum.org.

Subscribe for new content from The Met: https://www.youtube.com/user/metmuseum

#TheMet #Art #TheMetropolitanMuseumofArt #Museum

© 2023 The Metropolitan Museum of Art


A blonde, angel looking downwards with a green wing coming out of its back. The angel is draped in a white and red robe.
Explore the biography of the famed Renaissance artist through a selection of extraordinary works.
Caroline Elenowitz-Hess
March 23
Gold-background scene showing two male figures, one with wings, in an embrace, framed by red and blue decorative borders.
Spectrum of Desire co-curators Melanie Holcomb and Nancy Thebaut discuss sensuality and sexuality in Medieval art.
Lina Palazzo
March 18
Detail of a painting of a pale-faced woman with pink cheeks and light brown hair against a dark background.
Learn about the artist’s subversive and probing representations of herself and others.
Patricia G. Berman
March 13
More in:NatureOn ViewInspiration