Vincent van Gogh – Autumn Landscape with Four Trees

Autumn Landscape with Four Trees is the painting Vincent van Gogh made in Nuenen, in the Netherlands, in November 1885: three large trees in rust-orange autumn leaves and a fourth, bare and slender, on the right, in a flat landscape under a pale sky. The original measures 87.8 x 69 cm and belongs to the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo. We paint it by hand in oil on canvas, in 19 sizes from 40 x 30 to 180 x 150 cm or to your own measurements, and send you a photograph of the finished painting to approve before dispatch.

Autumn Landscape with Four Trees – Vincent van Gogh

What does Autumn Landscape with Four Trees show?

The painting shows a flat stretch of Dutch countryside late in the autumn. Three large trees stand close together on the left and in the centre, their crowns a dense mass of rust-orange, red-brown and copper leaves laid on in short, broken strokes. On the right stands the fourth tree, tall and slender, which has lost almost all its leaves: its pale trunk leans a little, and its thin bare branches open against the sky like a fan.

The horizon is low, so the sky takes up almost half of the canvas: pale grey, cream and soft blue, with light breaking through the clouds. Below the trees lies a field in olive green, ochre and yellow-brown, with a sandy path across the foreground and a row of thin, distant trees along the horizon. In the middle distance, between the central trees and the bare one, a small dark figure stands in the field. The Kröller-Müller Museum describes the painting as an orange-brown symphony of a few trees.

Why are the colours of Autumn Landscape with Four Trees so warm and brown?

Because Van Gogh was working on purpose with a narrow family of colours. According to the Kröller-Müller Museum, in the spring of 1884 he read Charles Blanc on simultaneous contrast and began his own colour experiments. He concluded that he wanted to paint from nature, but not necessarily with the exact colours of nature.

In the museum’s reading, this painting shows his idea of many related tones within one colour family. Instead of setting bright opposites side by side, he built the leaves, the field and even the light in the sky from neighbouring shades of orange, brown, ochre and olive. The canvas looks warm and unified rather than colourful, and the bare tree, in pale greys, stands out against it.

What did Van Gogh write about this autumn painting?

In a letter to his brother Theo, quoted by the Kröller-Müller Museum, Van Gogh wrote: “The laws of colour are inexpressibly splendid precisely because they are not coincidences.” This canvas puts that idea to work: a whole autumn scene held together by one group of warm tones, with no colour left to chance.

On or about 28 October 1885 he wrote to Theo from Nuenen that his palette was thawing. The edition of his letters at vangoghletters.org reads this as an allusion to the colours of Autumn Landscape with Four Trees, and counts it among the four autumn landscapes that letter refers to.

Where does the original hang?

The original belongs to the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, in the Netherlands. The museum lists it under the shorter title Autumn Landscape, in Dutch Herfstlandschap, dated November 1885, oil on canvas, with the object number KM 103.463. Its credit line says the painting was acquired with support from the Rembrandt Association.

The museum places the subject behind the garden of his parents’ home in Nuenen. The edition of his letters gives the size of the canvas as 87.8 x 69 cm and its numbers in the catalogues of his work as F 44 and JH 962.

Autumn Landscape with Four Trees or another Nuenen painting – which to choose?

Of the Nuenen paintings in our range, this one is the most open: a wide sky, trees and a field, with no buildings and only one tiny figure. The Potato Eaters, painted in Nuenen in 1885, is an interior: a peasant family at a table eating potatoes under a lamp. Lane of Poplars at Sunset and The Cottage were also painted in Nuenen.

For a contrast of season and place, Landscape with Snow was painted in Arles in February 1888, more than two years later, in the south of France. Choose this painting for trees and the warm colours of autumn, The Potato Eaters for a scene with people, and Landscape with Snow for winter.

How is our hand-painted Autumn Landscape with Four Trees made?

The painter first sets out the low horizon, the four trunks and the path, then lays in the pale sky, the olive and ochre field and finally the crowns of the trees, leaf by leaf, in orange, copper and red-brown. Our oil painting reproduction is painted by hand on canvas, with real impasto: the paint goes on thickly, so the brushstrokes stand up from the canvas and catch the light, most of all in the autumn leaves.

The first photograph shows our finished painting in a gold frame with a light inner border, standing on an easel in our framing workshop, with samples of frames around it.

Every painting is a hand-painted copy made for your order, so no two are quite the same.

Which size of Autumn Landscape with Four Trees for which wall?

Short answer: 60 x 43 or 70 x 53 cm above a chest of drawers, a desk or a bed in a smaller room, 114 x 82 or 125 x 97 cm above a sofa or a sideboard, and 160 x 129 or 180 x 150 cm for a large empty wall. The landscape format suits a living room, a dining room, a hallway or a bedroom.

There are 19 sizes: 40 x 30, 50 x 39, 50 x 40, 60 x 40, 60 x 43, 60 x 50, 70 x 50, 70 x 53, 80 x 56, 90 x 60, 91 x 64, 91 x 72, 105 x 70, 110 x 75, 114 x 82, 125 x 97, 140 x 113, 160 x 129 and 180 x 150 cm (width x height). The original is 87.8 cm wide and 69 cm high; our 91 x 72 cm size is the closest to it, so the painting on your wall is almost exactly as large as the one in Otterlo. The small sizes, 40 x 30 or 50 x 40 cm, fit a kitchen or a study. A painting for the living room should take up about two thirds of the width of the furniture below it. With so much orange and brown, it suits a white, cream, beige or warm grey wall, and it also works on a deep green wall that picks up the field.

Hang it with the centre of the canvas about 150 cm above the floor, and leave 20 to 30 cm between the top of the furniture and the bottom of the canvas.

What if I need a custom size or a frame?

If none of the 19 sizes fits your wall, we paint it to measure. Keep the proportions close to the original, otherwise the trees and the wide sky get squeezed or stretched. Send us the width and height you want and we will quote you a price and a delivery time. Every painting we make is mounted on a wooden stretcher, ready to hang.

Our 3D app shows each of our frame profiles on this painting. The app is for choosing the frame only. To see the painting on your own wall, use our separate room placement service. A gold frame with a light inner border, as in the first photograph, picks up the copper leaves; a dark wooden frame suits the brown trunks and the field. To look after it, keep it out of direct sun and away from radiators, and dust it now and then with a soft, dry brush.

How does delivery work, and what is the guarantee?

Every painting is made to order in our studio, so allow 15 to 45 days depending on the size you choose. We ship it on its stretcher, carefully packed (and framed, if you chose a frame), across the EU with no customs duty. Before dispatch we send you a photograph of the finished painting to approve, and we correct anything that is not right. Our returns policy applies to every order.

You will find more of Van Gogh’s famous works among all our Vincent van Gogh paintings, and more about the painter in our article on Vincent van Gogh. If you are giving it as a gift and are unsure of the size, a wall art voucher lets the recipient choose.

Frequently asked questions

Where is the original Autumn Landscape with Four Trees today?

In the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, in the Netherlands. The museum lists it as Autumn Landscape (Herfstlandschap), November 1885, oil on canvas, under object number KM 103.463, and says it was acquired with support from the Rembrandt Association. In the catalogues of Van Gogh’s work it is numbered F 44 and JH 962.

When and where did Van Gogh paint Autumn Landscape with Four Trees?

In November 1885 in Nuenen, a village in the south of the Netherlands, according to the Kröller-Müller Museum. The museum places the trees behind the garden of his parents’ home in the village. In a letter written to Theo on or about 28 October 1885 he mentioned several autumn studies made outdoors.

Does Autumn Landscape with Four Trees show a real place?

Yes. The Kröller-Müller Museum describes the painting as a few trees behind the garden of his parents’ home in Nuenen, so Van Gogh painted a view he knew well rather than an invented scene. He worked from nature, but, in the museum’s words, not necessarily with the exact colours of nature: the orange of the leaves is his own choice.

Why is Autumn Landscape with Four Trees so dark compared with his later work?

Because in Nuenen he was testing how far one family of colour could carry a painting. The Kröller-Müller Museum explains that after reading Charles Blanc in 1884 he set out to build a painting from many related tones, here orange and brown. His paintings from Arles, such as Landscape with Snow of 1888, use lighter colours.

What did Van Gogh write about Autumn Landscape with Four Trees?

In a letter to Theo of about 28 October 1885 he wrote that his palette was thawing, which the edition of his letters reads as an allusion to the colours of this painting. The Kröller-Müller Museum quotes him writing to Theo that the laws of colour are inexpressibly splendid precisely because they are not coincidences.

How big is the original Autumn Landscape with Four Trees?

The original is 69 cm high and 87.8 cm wide, according to the edition of Van Gogh’s letters, a landscape format that hangs well above a sofa, a sideboard or a dining table. Our 91 x 72 cm size is practically the same, and there are smaller and larger sizes from 40 x 30 to 180 x 150 cm, as well as paintings made to your own measurements.

Is Autumn Landscape with Four Trees a good painting to give as a gift?

It is a warm, quiet gift that suits many homes: a living room with wooden furniture, a study, a country house, someone born in the autumn or who enjoys walking in the countryside, or anyone who wants a canvas painting in calm, earthy colours rather than bright ones. If you are unsure of the size, a voucher lets the recipient choose it.

Does your Autumn Landscape with Four Trees have the raised brushstrokes of the original?

Yes. We paint it in impasto, building up each brushstroke in thick oil, so the surface is raised like Van Gogh’s original. You see the relief best in the crowns of the three large trees, where the leaves are built up stroke by stroke, and in the long grass and the field. A print cannot have this relief, because its surface is flat.

How long does delivery of Autumn Landscape with Four Trees take?

Allow 15 to 45 days, depending on the size, because every painting is made to order in our studio. It then travels stretched and protected, framed if you chose a frame, across the EU without customs, and our returns policy applies.

• Subject: three trees in rust-orange autumn leaves and one bare tree in a flat Dutch landscape near Nuenen, under a pale sky.
• Original: November 1885, Nuenen, 87.8 x 69 cm, Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo.
• Ours: a Van Gogh reproduction painted by hand in oil on canvas, in 19 sizes from 40 x 30 to 180 x 150 cm or made to measure.