Corridor in the Asylum

Vincent van Gogh

September 1889 · Oil color and essence over black chalk on pink laid ("Ingres") paper · Drawings and Prints

Struggles with his mental health led Van Gogh to admit himself to the psychiatric hospital of Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, located in the Romanesque monastery of Saint-Paul-de-Mausole. Throughout his twelve-month confinement, he continued to paint. In addition to the picturesque wheat fields, olive groves, cypresses, roses, and irises in and around the monastery, he captured this interior view of one of the asylum’s corridors. Despite his colorful palette, the sharply receding corridor feels hollow and haunted. Van Gogh sent the drawing to his brother Theo to give him an impression of his new surroundings. His time in the asylum did not afford the cure the artist had hoped for, and he died by suicide shortly thereafter.

Artist

Vincent van Gogh

Date

September 1889

Medium

Oil color and essence over black chalk on pink laid ("Ingres") paper

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Bequest of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, 1948