October 1889

Vincent continues to work out of doors in the asylum garden and beyond. He wishes to capture the essence of the olive trees, “silver against a soil of orange and violet hues, under the large white sun.” J.J. lsaäcson speaks highly of Vincent and his work in an article titled “Opinions about Dutch Art at the Paris World Fair,” published in De Portefeuille. Vincent finds the article unsettling and entreats Theo to tell lsaäcson not to write about him again.

He paints a series of olive groves, including a number of studies, as well as the landscape Poplars at Saint-Rémy.

– Alisia Robin Coon, Van Gogh Timeline, in Becoming van Gogh, Denver Art Museum, 2012, 264