Vincent van Gogh – Farmhouse in Provence

Farmhouse in Provence is the landscape Vincent van Gogh painted in Arles in 1888: a farmhouse with ochre walls and an orange roof behind a low grey stone wall, a gate between two stone pillars, golden haystacks, a yellow field with red flowers and green plants in front, a small figure walking through the grass and a turquoise sky with pink clouds. The original, oil on canvas, measures 46.1 x 60.9 cm and belongs to the National Gallery of Art in Washington. We paint it by hand in oil on canvas, in 17 sizes from 50 x 40 to 190 x 145 cm or to your own measurements, and send you a photograph of the finished painting for approval before dispatch.

Farmhouse in Provence – Vincent van Gogh

What does Farmhouse in Provence show?

In the middle distance stands a farmhouse with ochre walls and orange roofs, framed by dark green trees. In front of it runs a low wall of grey and lilac stones that curves towards us from the right. Where the wall meets the house, two stone pillars mark the entrance to the farm, with a blue-green gate between them, and behind the wall rise large golden haystacks.

A pale, almost white path leads from the lower right up to the gate. The lower half is a field of yellow and green grass in long, upright strokes. At the front a clump of green plants carries bright red flowers, and on the left a small figure in a blue jacket walks through the field. Above everything is a turquoise sky with streaks of pink and white cloud, and a narrow blue band runs along the horizon on the right.

Why are the colours of Farmhouse in Provence so strong?

Because Van Gogh set colours against their opposites. The English Wikipedia article on Farmhouse in Provence names three pairs of complementary colours in it: orange against blue, the red against the green of the plants, and the pink clouds against the turquoise sky. Side by side, two such colours of equal brightness make each other look stronger: the law of simultaneous contrast.

Van Gogh had learned about it years earlier: in Nuenen he became familiar with the laws of Michel Eugène Chevreul, drawn from weaving, which make colours more intense through contrast with their neighbours. He described the effect himself as the wedding of two complementary colours, their mingling and their opposition, and the mysterious vibrations of two kindred souls. Look at the orange roof against the blue-green trees to see it at work.

What does Farmhouse in Provence tell us about Van Gogh in Arles?

When he painted it, Van Gogh was 35 and lived in Arles, in Provence, where, as Wikipedia puts it, he was at the height of his career. The region was hot and dry, with vivid colours. Wikipedia describes that light as one that washed out details and simplified forms, much like the Japanese woodblock prints he admired. Here the house, the wall and the haystacks are simple shapes with firm outlines.

In roughly 15 months in Arles, from February 1888 to May 1889, he made about 100 drawings and more than 200 paintings, and still wrote more than 200 letters. In a letter to his brother Theo he wrote that painting promised to become more like music and less like sculpture, and above all that it promised colour.

Where does the original hang and how did it get there?

The original belongs to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., which lists it as Farmhouse in Provence, 1888, oil on canvas, 46.1 x 60.9 cm, in the Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection under the accession number 1970.17.34.

In November 1890, the year of the painter’s death, his sister-in-law Johanna van Gogh-Bonger sold it through Julien Tanguy in Paris to the Danish art dealer Willy Gretor. Gretor gave it to the German painter Maria Slavona. From 1919 until at least 1933 it belonged to Gaston Bernheim de Villers in Paris, then to Captain Edward H. Molyneux, also in Paris. On 15 August 1955 it was sold to Ailsa Mellon Bruce of New York, and in 1970 it came to the National Gallery of Art as her bequest.

Farmhouse in Provence or another Van Gogh – which should you choose?

Its closest companions in our range are landscapes and buildings from Arles in 1888. The Harvest is a wide plain of wheat fields with a haystack, a blue cart and farmhouses in the distance, and Wheat Field with Sheaves shows a field of cut wheat with sheaves standing in it, both painted in June 1888. Road Near Arles is a country lane with a yellow farmhouse under a large round tree, from May 1888, and The Yellow House shows the house in Arles where he lived and worked.

Choose this farmhouse for a warm landscape with a clear centre, The Harvest for a broad view, Road Near Arles for a tall format and The Yellow House for a town scene.

How is our hand-painted Farmhouse in Provence made?

The painter first draws the house, the wall, the gate, the haystacks and the path, and checks the proportions against the original. Then comes the sky, after it the trees and the roofs, then the wall and the haystacks, then the yellow field, and last the red flowers, the walking figure and the dark outlines. 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 as they do in the original and catch the light.

On this painting the relief shows most in the long upright strokes of the grass, in the stones of the wall, in the round mounds of the haystacks and in the streaks of the sky. A print is completely flat; on our painting every brushstroke stands out in real paint.

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

Which size for which wall?

Short answer: 50 x 40 or 63 x 48 cm for a narrow wall in a hallway or beside a door, 80 x 60 or 90 x 70 cm above a chest of drawers or a bed, and 120 x 90 or 150 x 110 cm above a sofa or on a large wall.

There are 17 sizes: 50 x 40, 60 x 40, 60 x 43, 63 x 48, 70 x 50, 70 x 53, 80 x 60, 90 x 70, 95 x 76, 110 x 75, 120 x 90, 130 x 103, 150 x 110, 155 x 120, 163 x 130, 180 x 135 and 190 x 145 cm (width x height). The original is 60.9 cm wide and 46.1 cm high, so our 63 x 48 cm size comes closest to it; 70 x 53, 80 x 60 and 120 x 90 cm keep its proportions almost exactly. The warm yellow and orange look best on a white, cream or light grey wall. A painting for the living room should cover about two thirds of the width of the furniture below it.

Hang it with the centre of the canvas about 150 cm above the floor. Above a sofa, a bed or a sideboard, 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 17 sizes fits your wall, we paint it to measure in any width and height you need. 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, so you can compare gold, silver, black, white and natural wood. 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 picks up the haystacks and the yellow field, while a natural wood or white one keeps the landscape light and fresh.

How does delivery work, and what is the guarantee?

Every painting is made to order in our studio in Slovenia, 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. 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 it is a present and you are not sure of the size, a wall art voucher lets the recipient choose.

Frequently asked questions

Where is the original Farmhouse in Provence today?

In the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. The museum lists it as oil on canvas, painted in 1888, in the Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection, under the accession number 1970.17.34. Ailsa Mellon Bruce of New York bought the painting in 1955, and after her death it came to the museum as her bequest in 1970.

When and where did Van Gogh paint Farmhouse in Provence?

In 1888, in Arles, in Provence in the south of France. Van Gogh was 35 at the time and, according to Wikipedia, at the height of his career. In about 15 months in Arles he produced more than 200 paintings, among them fields and farmhouses of the area around Arles, Nîmes and Avignon.

Is Farmhouse in Provence known by another title?

Yes. Wikipedia also gives it the title Entrance Gate to a Farm with Haystacks, which describes the scene closely: an entrance between two stone pillars in a low wall, with large haystacks behind it and the farmhouse to the left. In French it is known as Ferme en Provence. All of these titles refer to the same painting in Washington.

Which colours did Van Gogh use in Farmhouse in Provence?

He built it on three pairs of complementary colours, according to Wikipedia: orange against blue, red against the green of the plants, and pink clouds against a turquoise sky. Placed next to each other, such pairs make each other look brighter, an effect known as the law of simultaneous contrast. The rest of the canvas is dominated by yellows and ochres.

Why did Van Gogh go to Provence to paint farmhouses like this one?

Partly because of the painter Adolphe Monticelli, from Marseille. According to Wikipedia, Van Gogh admired his colour and his heavy application of paint, and Monticelli partly inspired his move south; he even wrote to his sister Wil that he felt like Monticelli’s son or brother. In Provence he also found the strong light and vivid colours he was looking for.

How did Farmhouse in Provence come to the National Gallery of Art?

Through a chain of owners recorded by the museum. Johanna van Gogh-Bonger sold it in November 1890 to the Danish dealer Willy Gretor, who gave it to the painter Maria Slavona. Later it belonged to Gaston Bernheim de Villers and to Captain Edward H. Molyneux in Paris. Ailsa Mellon Bruce bought it in 1955 and bequeathed it to the museum.

How big is the original Farmhouse in Provence?

46.1 cm high and 60.9 cm wide, according to the National Gallery of Art, a modest landscape format. Our 63 x 48 cm size comes closest to it. If you want the farm larger, there are 17 sizes up to 190 x 145 cm, and we also paint it to measure in any proportions you need.

Which size of Farmhouse in Provence suits a living room?

Above a sofa, choose 120 x 90 or 150 x 110 cm, so that the canvas painting covers a good part of the width of the sofa and the farm reads clearly from across the room. On a narrower wall or above a sideboard, 80 x 60 or 90 x 70 cm works well. For a very large wall, choose our largest size, 190 x 145 cm.

Does your Farmhouse in Provence 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 this best in the upright strokes of the yellow grass, in the stones of the wall and in the rounded haystacks, where the relief catches the light and casts small shadows when it is lit from the side.

• Subject: an ochre farmhouse with an orange roof behind a low stone wall, a gate between two pillars, golden haystacks, a yellow field with red flowers, a walking figure and a turquoise sky.
• Original: 1888, Arles, oil on canvas, 46.1 x 60.9 cm, National Gallery of Art, Washington.
• Ours: a Van Gogh reproduction painted by hand in oil on canvas, in 17 sizes from 50 x 40 to 190 x 145 cm or made to measure.
• Worth knowing: each painting is made to order, so allow 15 to 45 days, and our 3D app lets you try every frame on this painting before you order.