Viale di pioppi in autunno

This is Van Gogh years before the sunflowers and the blazing colour, still living in the Dutch countryside at Nuenen, where his father was the village pastor. He painted this avenue of poplars in October 1884, the leaves already turned yellow, the low autumn sun throwing long shadows and bright spots across the fallen leaves on the road. At the far end sits a small cottage. His palette here is still the earthy brown and grey of his early years in Holland. He described the scene almost exactly like this in a letter to his brother Theo, right down to the patches of blue sky showing through the thinning leaves overhead.