Vincent van Gogh – Woman in a Garden

Woman in a Garden is the painting Vincent van Gogh made in the summer of 1887 on the northern edge of Paris: a woman in a white dress and a yellow straw hat walking through tall green grass among slender trees, with red poppies and yellow flowers in the foreground, all laid on in short dabs and strokes. The original is in a private collection. We paint it by hand in oil on canvas, in 17 sizes from 40 x 30 to 120 x 100 cm or to your own measurements, and send you a photograph of the finished painting to approve before dispatch.

Woman in a Garden – Vincent van Gogh

What does Woman in a Garden show?

A young woman walks towards us through a garden in summer. She wears a long white dress shaded with touches of blue, a brown belt at the waist and a wide yellow straw hat with a dark ribbon, and she holds a small bunch of red and white flowers at her side. The grass reaches almost to her knees.

Almost the whole canvas is green. Tall grass in yellow-green and emerald strokes fills the foreground, slender trunks rise on the left and on the right, and behind the woman stands a dense wall of trees painted in small blue and green dabs. On the left a thin pale trunk carries a few yellow and orange leaves, and at its foot a clump of yellow flowers lights up the corner. Red poppies are scattered through the grass on the right, and a spiky green plant fans out at the bottom edge.

Who is the woman, and where was the painting made?

Nobody knows who she is: according to Wikipedia, her identity is unknown, and Van Gogh’s letters from 1887 do not mention the subject.

Van Gogh moved to Paris in 1886. According to Wikipedia, from May to July 1887 he went out almost daily to Asnières, in the northern suburbs along the Seine, and made around 40 paintings there; the article places this garden at Clichy, the neighbouring suburb. The Wikimedia Commons record dates the painting to the summer of 1887.

What does Woman in a Garden tell us about Van Gogh in Paris?

It shows how far his colour changed in a year and a half. In the Netherlands he had painted dark, earthy scenes such as The Potato Eaters of 1885; in Paris, Wikipedia says, seeing Signac’s Ponton de la Félicité in 1887 prompted his trips to the suburbs. In October 1887 he wrote to his sister Wil that he saw more colour in the landscape at Asnières than before.

Here there is no dark shadow anywhere: greens, yellows, blues and reds sit side by side in short separate strokes. Wikipedia also counts the painting as one panel of what it calls the Riverbank in Clichy Triptych, together with Fishing in Spring in the Art Institute of Chicago and River Bank in Springtime in the Dallas Museum of Art.

Where is the original today, and how did it get there?

The original is in a private collection, and its owner has not been made public. The record of the painting on Wikimedia Commons lists, among its earlier owners, the painter Emile Bernard, the Galerie Ambroise Vollard and the C. W. Kraushaar Art Gallery. It was sold at Christie’s in New York on 13 November 1996 and again at Sotheby’s in London on 20 June 2005, when, according to the Wikipedia article on the painting, it went to an anonymous buyer.

It was lent to the Musée d’Orsay in Paris in 1988 for Van Gogh à Paris, and in 2023 to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam for Van Gogh along the Seine, where the three Clichy canvases were shown together. The two sources give slightly different sizes: Wikipedia 48 x 60 cm, the Commons record 51 x 62.5 cm, height x width.

Woman in a Garden or another Paris painting – which to choose?

Of the paintings from Van Gogh’s Paris years in our range, this one is the most open and outdoor. The Italian Woman, painted in Paris in 1887, is a portrait. Bridge in the Rain, also from Paris in 1887, is his painted version of a Japanese woodblock by Hiroshige. Self-Portrait as an Artist, from his Paris years too, shows the painter himself.

Irises was painted later, in 1889 in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. Choose Woman in a Garden for a garden scene and the fresh greens of summer, The Italian Woman for a portrait, Bridge in the Rain for a Japanese mood, and Irises for flowers.

How is our hand-painted Woman in a Garden made?

The painter first sets out the woman, the two slender trunks and the line where the grass meets the trees, then lays in the wall of trees behind her, the grass and finally the flowers, the hat and the white dress. Our oil painting reproduction is painted by hand in oil 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 long strokes of the grass and in the dabs of the trees.

The first photograph shows our finished painting in a wide silver frame with a warm champagne sheen, standing on a wooden easel in our studio among other paintings. The second photograph is a close-up of a corner of that frame, beside the painted tree and the woman. The third photograph comes close to the woman herself, so you can see the raised paint of her white dress, her yellow hat and the flowers in her hand.

Every painting is a hand-painted copy made for your order, so no two are quite the same. A print shows only a flat surface; on our painting the strokes are real.

Which size of Woman in a Garden for which wall?

Short answer: 50 x 40 or 55 x 45 cm above a chest of drawers, a desk or a bedside table, 63 x 48 or 63 x 51 cm for the size of the original, 100 x 80 or 105 x 88 cm above a sofa or a sideboard, and 120 x 100 cm for a large empty wall.

There are 17 sizes: 40 x 30, 50 x 39, 50 x 40, 55 x 45, 63 x 48, 63 x 51, 70 x 53, 70 x 60, 80 x 62, 80 x 65, 85 x 68, 85 x 72, 90 x 71, 100 x 80, 100 x 85, 105 x 88 and 120 x 100 cm (width x height). The original is about 60 cm wide and 48 to 51 cm high, depending on the source; our 63 x 48 and 63 x 51 cm sizes are the closest to it, so the painting on your wall is practically as large as Van Gogh’s. A painting for the living room should take up about two thirds of the width of the furniture below it. With so much green, it suits a white, cream, light grey or soft sage green wall.

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

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 woman and the trees get squeezed or stretched. Send us the width and height you want and we will quote a price and a lead time. Every painting we make is stretched over a wooden stretcher and ready to hang.

For the moulding, use our 3D application: it shows each of our frame profiles on this subject – the application is for choosing the frame only. Seeing the painting on your own wall is our separate room placement service. A silver frame with a champagne sheen, as in the first two photographs, keeps the greens fresh; natural wood suits a country-style room. 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 in Slovenia, so allow 15 to 45 days depending on the size you choose. We ship it stretched and protected, framed if you chose a frame, across the EU with no customs. Before dispatch you receive a photograph of the finished work to approve, and we correct anything that is not right. Our returns policy applies to every order.

You will find more famous Van Gogh paintings 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 Woman in a Garden today?

In a private collection, whose owner has not been made public. According to Wikipedia, the painting was sold at Sotheby’s in London in 2005 to an anonymous buyer. It was lent to the Art Institute of Chicago and the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam for exhibitions in 2023, and afterwards went back to its private owner.

When and where did Van Gogh paint Woman in a Garden?

In 1887, in the northern suburbs of Paris along the Seine; the Wikimedia Commons record dates it to the summer of that year. Wikipedia places the garden at Clichy. Van Gogh had moved to Paris in 1886 and, from May to July 1887, went out to Asnières almost daily, making around 40 paintings in these suburbs.

Who is the woman in Woman in a Garden?

Nobody knows. The Wikipedia article on the painting says that her identity is unknown and that Van Gogh’s letters from 1887 do not mention the subject. She is not posed like a sitter in a portrait: she walks through the grass in a white dress and a yellow straw hat, painted with the same quick strokes as the garden around her.

Why is Woman in a Garden so much brighter than his Dutch paintings?

Because in Paris Van Gogh changed his palette. Instead of the dark earth colours of The Potato Eaters of 1885, he used light greens, yellows and blues in short separate strokes. In October 1887 he wrote to his sister Wil that he saw more colour in the landscape at Asnières than before, and that people wanted art with strong colour and great intensity.

How big is the original Woman in a Garden?

About 60 cm wide and about 50 cm high, but the sources differ slightly: Wikipedia gives 48 x 60 cm and the Wikimedia Commons record 51 x 62.5 cm, height x width. Our 63 x 48 and 63 x 51 cm sizes are the closest to it, and we offer sizes from 40 x 30 to 120 x 100 cm.

Which size of Woman in a Garden should I choose?

For a canvas painting close to the original, choose 63 x 48 or 63 x 51 cm, which suits a chest of drawers, a desk or a narrow wall. Above a sofa, 100 x 80 or 105 x 88 cm lets the woman and the flowers read from across the room, and 120 x 100 cm fills a large wall. We also paint it to your own measurements.

Does your Woman in a Garden have the raised brushstrokes of the original?

Yes. We paint our copy in impasto: the paint goes on thickly, so the brushstrokes stand up from the canvas as on Van Gogh’s original. You see it best in the long upright strokes of the grass, in the dabs of the trees behind the woman and in her white dress, as in the third photograph, where the relief catches the light from the side.

How long does delivery of Woman in a Garden take?

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

• Subject: a woman in a white dress and a yellow straw hat walking through tall grass among slender trees, with poppies and yellow flowers.
• Original: summer 1887, northern suburbs of Paris, oil on canvas, private collection.
• Ours: a Van Gogh reproduction painted by hand in oil on canvas, in 17 sizes from 40 x 30 to 120 x 100 cm or made to measure.
• Worth knowing: our 3D application shows every frame profile on this painting before you order.