Description
Landscape with Snow is the painting Vincent van Gogh made in Arles in February 1888, soon after he arrived in the south of France and found it under snow: a flat field with reddish furrows and melting patches of white, a man in a black hat walking along a path with his dog, and farm buildings with a red roof under a pale sky. The original, oil on canvas, measures 46.2 x 38.3 cm and hangs in the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. We paint it by hand in oil on canvas, in 16 sizes from 50 x 40 to 120 x 100 cm or to your own measurements, and send you a photograph of the finished painting for approval before dispatch.
| Title: | Landscape with Snow |
| Other titles: | Paysage enneigé |
| Painter: | Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) |
| Year painted: | February 1888, Arles |
| Original size: | 46.2 cm x 38.3 cm |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | Post-Impressionism |
| Located at: | Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Thannhauser Collection |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, 16 sizes or made to measure |
Landscape with Snow – Vincent van Gogh
What does Landscape with Snow show?
A wide, flat field fills almost the whole canvas. Long furrows of reddish brown earth run from the foreground into the distance, and between them lie strips and patches of snow, painted in white and violet. Brown, green and blue strokes mark the puddles and slush where the snow is already melting, and yellow tufts of grass line the edge of a path.
On that path, at the left, a man in a brown jacket and a black hat walks away from us with a small brown dog. Far behind him, on a high horizon, stand a few farm buildings, one with a bright red roof, bare trees and low hills. The sky is pale, almost white, with the cool light the Guggenheim describes as the purplish light of an impending snowstorm.
Why was there snow in Arles when Van Gogh arrived?
Because of a record cold spell. Van Gogh left Paris in the middle of February 1888 looking for sun and clear light in Provence. According to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, when he stepped off the train in Arles he found a snowy landscape instead.
The museum dates this canvas to around 24 February, when the snow had mostly melted and shortly before a new fall. In a letter to his brother Theo of about that date, quoted in the English Wikipedia article on the painting, he wrote that he had finished three paintings in as many days, one of them “a landscape in the snow”.
What does Landscape with Snow mean?
It is a first look at a new home. The Guggenheim notes that this canvas, and a similar one he painted a day or so later, are less detailed than the landscapes he made in Arles a few months afterwards, which suggests his tentative approach to the place he had just chosen.
The museum also sees two traditions in it. The snowy scene may come from the Japanese prints Van Gogh collected, while the colours follow seventeenth-century Dutch landscape painting, moving from dark greens and browns in front to blue in the distance, with the path leading the eye diagonally into the field. He keeps us down in the field, on the same level as the man and his dog.
Where does the original hang?
The original hangs in the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, which lists it as Landscape with Snow, Arles, February 1888, oil on canvas, 46.2 x 38.3 cm. It belongs to the museum’s Thannhauser Collection. In the Van Gogh catalogues it carries the numbers F290 and JH1360.
Its companion, the similar snowy view painted a day or so later with the town of Arles in the background, is in a private collection in London, according to the Guggenheim. Van Gogh painted snow more than once: Wikipedia counts at least ten snowy landscapes in oil and watercolour between 1882 and 1889.
Landscape with Snow or another Van Gogh – which should you choose?
This painting is a quiet, cool landscape. Its four closest companions in our range all show Van Gogh’s life in and around Arles. The Yellow House shows the house where he lived and worked, bright yellow against a deep blue sky. Bedroom in Arles shows his room there in strong, flat colours.
Fishing Boats on the Beach at Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer lines up coloured boats on the sand by the Mediterranean, and Starry Night over the Rhône sets the stars and the gaslights of Arles over dark water. Choose the snowy field for calm and winter light in a hallway or study, the house or the bedroom for warm yellows, the boats for colour and the river at night for a deep blue.
How is our hand-painted Landscape with Snow made?
The painter first draws the high horizon, the line of the path and the direction of the furrows, and checks the proportions against the original, so that the field runs into the distance at Van Gogh’s angle. Then come the pale sky and the buildings on the horizon, after them the earth of the field, then the snow in white and violet, the puddles, the yellow grass, and last the man and his dog. 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 short strokes of the snow, in the ridges of the furrows and in the tufts of grass along the path. 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 60 x 50 cm for a small wall in a hallway, a study or beside a window, 80 x 66 or 90 x 75 cm above a chest of drawers or a bed, and 105 x 85 or 120 x 100 cm above a sofa. The landscape format suits wide furniture.
There are 16 sizes: 50 x 40, 60 x 50, 67 x 55, 70 x 56, 70 x 59, 74 x 61, 75 x 65, 80 x 66, 80 x 70, 85 x 72, 90 x 75, 100 x 80, 105 x 85, 110 x 90, 115 x 93 and 120 x 100 cm (width x height). The original is a small canvas, 46.2 cm wide and 38.3 cm high, so our 50 x 40 cm size is only slightly larger than the painting in the museum, and the sizes 60 x 50, 90 x 75 and 120 x 100 cm keep its proportions almost exactly. The white and violet snow and the pale sky are cool, so it looks best on a white, cream or light grey wall and under warm light. 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 16 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 light natural wood or white frame keeps the winter mood, while a narrow gold one picks up the red roof and the reddish earth.
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 paintings in our Vincent van Gogh gallery, and there is more about the painter in our article on Vincent van Gogh. If you are giving it as a present and are not sure of the size, a wall art voucher lets the recipient choose.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the original Landscape with Snow today?
In the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. The museum lists it as oil on canvas, 46.2 x 38.3 cm, painted in Arles in February 1888, and keeps it in its Thannhauser Collection, among the works it shows in New York. In the Van Gogh catalogues it is numbered F290 and JH1360.
When and where did Van Gogh paint Landscape with Snow?
In Arles, in February 1888, around the 24th of the month according to the Guggenheim. He had left Paris in the middle of February, and Wikipedia counts it among the first paintings he made in Arles. In a letter to Theo of about that date he wrote of three paintings finished in three days, one of them a landscape in the snow.
Was there really snow in Arles when Van Gogh painted Landscape with Snow?
Yes. When Van Gogh arrived in February 1888, a record cold spell had covered the countryside around Arles with snow, as both the Guggenheim and Wikipedia record. By the time he painted this field the snow had mostly melted, which is why it lies in thin patches between the furrows, and a new fall came soon afterwards.
Which place does Landscape with Snow show?
A stretch of open farmland outside Arles. According to Wikipedia, the painting shows the plain of La Crau, with Montmajour and a line of hills along the horizon. Van Gogh painted it from inside the field rather than from a height, so most of the canvas is ground and furrows, with the farm buildings and their red roof small in the distance.
Did Van Gogh paint other snowy scenes besides Landscape with Snow?
Yes. Wikipedia counts at least ten snowy landscapes in oil and watercolour between 1882 and 1889. In Arles, a day or so after this one, he painted a similar snowy view with the town in the background, which the Guggenheim places in a private collection in London. According to the Guggenheim, this canvas is the more detailed of the two.
What influenced Van Gogh in Landscape with Snow?
Two traditions, according to the Guggenheim. The snowy subject may come from the Japanese prints he collected, where snowy scenes are common. The colours and the layout follow seventeenth-century Dutch landscape painting: dark greens and browns in front, blue in the distance, and a path leading the eye diagonally deep into the field.
How big is the original Landscape with Snow?
Small: 38.3 cm high and 46.2 cm wide, a modest landscape format. Our 50 x 40 cm size is only a little larger, and 60 x 50, 90 x 75 and 120 x 100 cm keep the same proportions. If you want the snowy field as a large painting, there are 16 sizes in all, as well as custom sizes in any proportions.
Which size of Landscape with Snow suits a living room?
Above a sofa, choose 105 x 85 or 120 x 100 cm, so that the canvas painting covers about two thirds of the width of the sofa. On a narrower wall or above a sideboard, 80 x 66 or 90 x 75 cm works well. Even the largest size keeps the calm of this small original.
Does your Landscape with Snow 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 short strokes of the snow, in the ridges of the reddish furrows and in the tufts of yellow grass along the path, where the relief catches the light.
- Subject: a flat field near Arles under melting snow, reddish furrows, a man in a black hat with his dog on a path, farm buildings with a red roof on the horizon.
- Original: February 1888, Arles, oil on canvas, 46.2 x 38.3 cm, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.
- Ours: a Van Gogh reproduction painted by hand in oil on canvas, in 16 sizes from 50 x 40 to 120 x 100 cm or made to measure.
