Edge of a Wood

In July 1883 Van Gogh bought himself a field easel, pleased that standing at it meant he didn't get as dirty as when he was down on his knees. He painted this stretch of woodland in August and September, from the slightly raised viewpoint the easel gave him. The support is a fairly fine ordinary cloth. He had bought a length of it, kept part back for studies and let the rest go to be made into vests. He also changed his mind as he worked. A second tree trunk once stood in the left foreground and the path wandered, and he painted the tree out and straightened the path into something calmer. In 1908 Helene Kröller-Müller bought the picture at auction for 110 guilders, the first Van Gogh she owned.