Vincent van Gogh – Road Near Arles (Side of a Country Lane)

Road Near Arles is the spring landscape Vincent van Gogh painted just outside Arles in May 1888: a pale country lane, a large round tree with a yellow farmhouse beneath it, a flat green field and a high sky of swirling grey-blue strokes. The original measures 60.5 x 49.9 cm and belongs to the Pommersches Landesmuseum in Greifswald, Germany. We paint it by hand in oil on canvas, in 17 sizes from 30 x 40 to 120 x 150 cm or to your own measurements, and send you a photograph of the finished painting to approve before dispatch.

Road Near Arles – Vincent van Gogh

What do you see in Road Near Arles?

The painting shows a country lane outside Arles on a bright spring day, in an upright format. A pale lane enters from the lower left and runs back along a row of trees. The foreground is filled with thick strokes of pale yellow, ochre and lilac, which German Wikipedia describes as a dry ditch.

On the left stands a large round tree, its dark green crown painted in dots of orange, yellow, red and blue. Beneath it is a two-storey yellow farmhouse with an orange roof. To the right lies a flat green field with flecks of white and pink and a dark line of trees on the horizon. Above it all the sky fills more than half of the canvas, in short, curling strokes of grey-blue, white and pale blue.

Where near Arles did Van Gogh paint this road?

Van Gogh painted it in May 1888, while he was living in Arles in the south of France. According to the German Wikipedia article on the painting, the house stood north-east of Arles, on the Avenue de Montmajour. The canvas is neither signed nor dated.

On 17 August 1888 he sent it to his brother Theo in Paris with other works. In its first exhibitions it went by several names: Baum (Pointillierter Baum), a dotted tree, in Mannheim in 1907, Baumstudie in Munich in 1908, Landstraße in der Provence in Berlin in 1910 and Straße von Arles in Cologne in 1912.

What does the painting mean?

The Wikipedia article on the painting describes its colours as bright and alive, offering a view that is more perceived than experienced; in its reading, the idyllic mood is carried by the colour. The painting tells no story: a quiet road in spring, a house in the sun and a sky that will not keep still.

Its early titles show what caught the eye first: two of the four name only the tree. Its crown is built from separate dots of colour, while the sky moves in short, curling strokes, and that contrast holds the composition together.

Where does the original hang?

The original belongs to the Pommersches Landesmuseum in Greifswald, in north-eastern Germany. The museum’s record on Google Arts & Culture lists it under its German title, Allee bei Arles, Vincent van Gogh, 1888, oil paint, 49.9 cm wide and 60.5 cm high. German Wikipedia rounds the size to 61 x 50 cm, and English Wikipedia gives its catalogue numbers as F567 and JH1419.

According to German Wikipedia, the painting passed after Theo’s death in January 1891 to his widow Johanna, who sold it in April 1906 to Amédée Schuffenecker of Meudon. In 1910 the Städtisches Museum in Stettin bought it for 10,800 marks. On 5 August 1937 it was seized in the Nazi campaign against ‘degenerate art’ and returned two days later. In April 1945 it went by rail to Coburg, in 1970 to Kiel Castle, and in 1999 to Greifswald.

Road Near Arles or another Arles painting – which should you choose?

All five paintings named here come from Van Gogh’s time in Arles in 1888. Road Near Arles is the quiet one: an upright daylight landscape with one tree, one house and a big sky. The Yellow House shows the house in Arles where Van Gogh rented rooms in 1888. The Harvest, from June 1888, looks across wide fields near Arles at harvest time. Starry Night over the Rhône and Café Terrace at Night, both from September 1888, show Arles after dark.

Choose Road Near Arles for a narrow or tall wall and a calm, sunny mood, The Harvest for a wide wall above a sofa, and one of the two night scenes if the room needs deep blues.

How is our hand-painted Road Near Arles made?

The painter first sets out the lane, the horizon and the large tree, then paints the sky, the house and the field, and last the dotted crown of the tree and the thick strokes of the foreground. 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 on the original and catch the light. A print is completely flat; on our painting every brushstroke stands out in real paint.

The first photograph shows our finished painting, unframed, on an easel in our studio, seen from the front. The second photograph shows it turned at an angle, so you see the depth of the paint in the tree and the sky. The third photograph is a view from the other side, with the raised strokes of the foreground along the edge. The fourth photograph is a close-up of the yellow farmhouse and the thick strokes in front of it. The fifth photograph is a close-up of the dotted crown of the tree against the curling sky.

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

Which size of Road Near Arles for which wall?

Short answer: 40 x 50 or 50 x 61 cm above a chest of drawers or a desk, 63 x 80 or 70 x 85 cm for a narrow wall beside a door or a window, and 80 x 100 cm or larger above a sofa or a bed. The upright format suits a hallway, a bedroom or a living room.

There are 17 sizes: 30 x 40, 40 x 47, 40 x 50, 41 x 51, 50 x 61, 50 x 62, 54 x 65, 60 x 70, 63 x 80, 70 x 85, 73 x 95, 80 x 100, 90 x 108, 93 x 115, 100 x 120, 105 x 125 and 120 x 150 cm (width x height). The original is 49.9 cm wide and 60.5 cm high; our 50 x 61 cm size is the closest to it, so the painting on your wall is almost exactly as large as the one in Greifswald. A painting for the living room should take up about two thirds of the width of the furniture below it; above a wide sofa an upright canvas works best at 90 x 108 cm or larger. It sits well on a white, cream or light grey wall, and on a pale green or blue one that picks up the field and the sky.

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 17 sizes fits your wall, we paint it to measure. Keep the proportions close to the original, otherwise the tree and the house 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 or warm wooden frame picks up the yellow of the house and the foreground; a white or light grey frame keeps the sky cool 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, 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 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 of Road Near Arles today?

In the Pommersches Landesmuseum in Greifswald, in north-eastern Germany. The museum’s record on Google Arts & Culture lists it under its German title, Allee bei Arles, 1888, 49.9 cm wide and 60.5 cm high. The painting has been in Greifswald since 1999.

When and where did Van Gogh paint Road Near Arles?

In May 1888, in the countryside just outside Arles in the south of France, where he was living at the time. According to German Wikipedia, the house in the painting stood north-east of the town, on the Avenue de Montmajour. In August 1888 he sent the canvas to his brother Theo in Paris, together with other works from Arles.

What does Road Near Arles show?

A pale country lane running from the lower left past a large round tree, with a yellow two-storey farmhouse under the tree, a flat green field to the right and a high sky of curling grey-blue strokes. The crown of the tree is painted in dots of orange, yellow and red over dark green.

Is Road Near Arles the same painting as A Lane near Arles?

Yes. A Lane near Arles is the English title Wikipedia uses, Allee bei Arles is the German title the museum in Greifswald uses, and Road near Arles (Side of a Country Lane) is another English form. Between 1907 and 1912 it was also shown as a tree study. It is a different work from A Lane in the Public Garden at Arles.

How did Road Near Arles end up in Greifswald?

By a long route, recorded in the German Wikipedia. Theo’s widow Johanna sold it in 1906 to Amédée Schuffenecker, and in 1910 the Städtisches Museum in Stettin bought it for 10,800 marks. It was seized in 1937 in the campaign against ‘degenerate art’ and returned two days later, went to Coburg in 1945 and to Kiel in 1970, and reached the Pommersches Landesmuseum in 1999.

How big is the original Road Near Arles?

The original is 60.5 cm high and 49.9 cm wide according to the museum’s record, about 61 x 50 cm: an upright format that fits above a chest of drawers or a desk, or beside a window. Our 50 x 61 cm size is practically the same, and there are smaller and larger sizes from 30 x 40 to 120 x 150 cm, or we can paint it to measure.

Does your Road Near Arles 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 dotted crown of the tree, in the curling sky and in the thick strokes of the foreground, as in the fourth and fifth photographs, where the relief catches the light.

Is Road Near Arles a good gift?

It is a bright, calm gift for a hallway, a bedroom, a study or a house in the country, or for someone who has travelled in Provence or likes quiet landscapes full of light. As a canvas painting with warm yellow and cool blue-grey, it fits both light and darker walls, and a voucher lets the recipient choose the size.

• Subject: a country lane near Arles with a large round tree, a yellow farmhouse with an orange roof, a flat green field and a sky of swirling grey-blue strokes.
• Original: May 1888, Arles, 60.5 x 49.9 cm, Pommersches Landesmuseum, Greifswald.
• Ours: a Van Gogh reproduction painted by hand in oil on canvas, in 17 sizes from 30 x 40 to 120 x 150 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 compare frames on this painting.