Monet’s Lilies.
Vincent’s Sunflowers.
Salvador Dali’s Melting Clocks.
These are the classic icons of the art world that we often come across in our daily lives, in forms other than the stretched canvas. These iconic masterpieces are so popular that they represent the art-world to the world. But there are many more paintings and work by the same masters that, I’d say, are far more captivating, beautiful and awe-inspiring.
Almond Blossoms Oil Painting by Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890). Oil on Canvas – 73.5 X 92 cm
Vincent Van Gogh’s Almond Blossoms is one such masterpiece. Having studied Van Gogh at length, his works, life, including closer to his life fiction, I am surprised how I missed out on this classic painting that tells me a lot more than biography on him would. Guess I missed the Almond Blossoms midst Sunflowers, Irises, Open Fields and the portraits.
One fine afternoon, I chanced upon Almond Blossoms. Strange that I saw this painting on TV on Art Beat on NDTV Good Times. Yes, my jaw dropped then.
Almond Blossoms came across as a complete surprise as most of Van Gogh’s paintings were known for melancholy and loneliness. Painted upon good tidings of the birth of his nephew, Almond Blossoms is an unusual piece from Van Gogh’s collection. This turquoise and ivory masterpiece seems like a breath of fresh air in Vincent’s’ as well as our lives.
No one can help but admire the beauty of the panting. Watching Almond Blossoms is like having a conversation in your mind. What draws and trains the eye are not the ivory white blossoms, but the knots and gnarls of the branches in simple brush strokes.
Almond Blossoms branches are twisted and gnarled like a complicated mind with few blossoms of hope. I wonder if it is my imagination and my bent of mind going there instead of landing on the feather blossoms. In simple brush strokes, Van Gogh had managed to complete a true picture of the moment. The myriad expressions he must have felt, at that one moment, are for us to experience.
A sudden departure from his color palette, strokes and hues, Van Gogh has conjured up an entirely different painting. It shows how much gloom was in his life and a piece of small news made him paint in a different way, conveying a rare emotion that he felt. Wonder how Van Gogh’s paintings would have been if he was a happy person.
His limited color palette is another surprise. His turquoise blues, sepias, white, pink, black, and greens are nothing but born of his color mixing mastery. Something tells me that Vincent must have ran out of colors while he painted it and therefore we can across this rare muted color palette with many tones in between – making Almond Blossoms an absolute rare one.
The innate simplicity of the branches and the brush strokes, the amount of color on the brush, are all to engrossing to mull over. Almond Blossoms is a painting you can quietly stare at without a lump in your throat but with a lot more going on in your head. Many art lovers who have seen this painting live have said to have felt mixed emotions watching it.
Vincent van Gogh Stichting, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam now houses this masterpiece. If I ever get to goto Amsterdam, it will be to see Almond Blossoms amongst the other masterpieces. I guess I would need at least a week to spend my time in the museum. Here is short description of the painting in the museum website:
On January 31, 1890, Theo wrote to Vincent of the birth of his son, whom he had named Vincent Willem. Van Gogh, who was extremely close to his younger brother, immediately set about making him a painting of his favorite subject: blossoming branches against a blue sky. The gift was meant to hang over the couple’s bed. As a symbol of this new life, Vincent chose an almond tree, which blooms early in southern regions, announcing the coming spring as early as February.
True to his nature, Vincent Van Gogh had unknowlingly created this masterpiece. He died the same year. Isn’t this painting a glimpse of, perhaps, one happy moment he savored before his death?
The best book that I came across on Van Gogh, is Irving Stone’s Lust for Life
HEALTH OPINE - For issues related to Indian Healthcare System 
I have noticed you don’t monetize your website, don’t waste your traffic, you can earn additional bucks every month because you’ve got
hi quality content. If you want to know how to make extra bucks,
search for: Mrdalekjd methods for $$$
Thank you so much for this post. I came across Van Gogh’s Starry Night around four years ago on a children’s magazine cover. Ever since I have been reading about his work on random websites, reading the letters he wrote to Theo. Then last year I spotted Lust for Life tucked away in a dusty shelf in Blossoms, a second-hand bookstore in Bangalore. There is something about his work that moves me. This painting has been my desktop wallpaper for over 2 months now. I love your description. Someday, hopefully, I will attend your art workshops. P.S.: Any other book recommendations about Gogh?
Radhika: Lust for Life is by far the best book I have come across on Van Gogh’s life. Rest all is best left to documentaries. I cannot recommend to you anything better. I love to collect books on him and his works and if you do come across anything remarkable, please let me know. You can also see the movie adaption of the book.
I agree that there is something about his works that moves us within. There is so much energy in every piece that it trains our eyes to meander in those four walls of the frame, everywhere.
Im so glad to have you here and that you love the ‘Almond Blossoms’ too. Two months on your desktop and you can never be bored of it 🙂 Keep in touch. I will keep you posted on the art camp too.
The sinuous gray-green limbs and the shimmering white flowers delineate a decorative pattern against the bright blue sky, revealing Vincent van Gogh’s enduring attachment to the Japanese aesthetic.
I have been to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam – last summer actually. I loved this picture above all others, and bought a copy home to hng in my house. I love the blue and the whole thing makes me feel alive and hopeful. Hope you get to go and see for yourself!
Fiona: I must say that you are incredibily lucky to have seen the painting in person at the Van Gogh Museum. And also so glad to hear that this painting is so good that it slowly towers over others and that you loved it too.
Indeed it is a masterpiece. Sublime.
I recently came accross your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I dont know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Alisha
Alisha: Nice to have you wander by. Hope that you add more sketches to your website soon.
“Almond Blossoms branches are twisted and gnarled like a complicated mind with few blossoms of hope.”
You are an artist with words, Ishrath. Lovely post.
He desperately wanted to say Goodbye. But words have never been his medium. He would have to paint goodbye…..One cannot paint goodbye.. He turned his face upward to the sun. He pressed the revolver into his side. He pulled the trigger. He sank down burying his face in the rich pungent loam of the field, a more resilient earth returning to the womb of its mother.