Vincent Van Gogh

Art History: The Last painting of Van Gogh

Daubigny’s Garden
Vincent Van Gogh

Photo via wikimedia.org

The ominous and haunting Wheatfield With Crows is often mistakenly said to be Vincent van Gogh’s final painting. Although it was certainly one of his final paintings, scholarly analysis of the artist’s letters indicates that Wheatfield With Crows was completed around two weeks before his suicide in July 1890. 

That means that van Gogh’s actual last painting was probably Daubigny’s Garden, one of three works depicting the large garden of Charles-François Daubigny, a painter who van Gogh deeply admired. The idyllic garden scene is a sharp contrast to the darker Wheatfield With Crows, offering no apparent hint of van Gogh’s mental torment.
 
On the morning of July 27, 1890, van Gogh went outdoors to paint, apparently bringing a loaded gun with him. He then attempted suicide by shooting himself in the chest, although the bullet failed to kill him. He died two days later in the presence of his brother, at the age of 37. 

Van Gogh never achieved any real success or fame before his untimely death and, as a result, his mother tragically disposed of a large amount of his work.