FOR Vincent van Gogh, autumn was the most beguiling and poetic of seasons. ‘As long as autumn lasts,’ he wrote, ‘I shall not have hands, canvas and colours enough to paint the beautiful things I see.’ Here was the chance to use a myriad of rich tones, to fill skies with the drama of clouds and lay down in paint the sense of change in the air.
Autumn was a subject van Gogh turned to again and again. Avenue of Poplars in Autumn (1884), Autumn Landscape with Four Trees (1885), Autumn Landscape at Dusk (1885), Les Alyscamps (1888) and Falling Autumn Leaves (1888)—the season had a hold on him. And in 1889, between October and December, at the asylum near Saint Rémy where he was recovering from the breakdown heralded by the self-mutilation of his ear, it hadn’t let go. There, he depicted olive trees buffeted by the wind and painted over a fizzing picture of a flowering hillside with an image of a grey and green ravine instead. His colours, still rich, had darkened and the mood, for all the tossing and turning brushstrokes, was sombre. There was a chill in the air. Van Gogh sensed, it seems, that he was painting the autumn of his own life. The following summer, he killed himself.
Esta historia es de la edición October 04, 2023 de Country Life UK.
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Kitchen garden cook - Apples
'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'
The original Mr Rochester
Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre
Get it write
Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution
'Sloes hath ben my food'
A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright
Souvenirs of greatness
FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.
Plants for plants' sake
The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson
Capturing the castle
Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker
Nature's own cathedral
Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods
All that money could buy
A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages
In with the old
Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery
