Van Gogh revisited (13)

This is the 13th in a series on Vincent van Gogh’s works that are featured at the exhibition titled “Van Gogh in Paris: a Dialogue with Modernism” at Seoul Arts Center. ― ED.

Vincent van Gogh’s “Path in the Woods” (1887) is one of the six forest-themed paintings he did in Asnieres, a suburb of Paris.

This painting depicts a small path in a forest, presumed to be somewhere near the southern part of the Seine River, which is densely packed with trees with sunlight bouncing off the leaves. He captured the beauty of nature with rich textures in this painting.

Van Gogh studied and experimented with changes in light in this picture. Analysis on the painting revealed that he drew a detailed sketch and colored it quickly, painting over before a coat of oil paint was dried. He mainly used blue, green and yellow and created a sense of space from the contrast between the trees and the sunlit path.