花咲く桃の木

In the spring of 1888 Van Gogh had just moved south to Arles, and when the orchards came into blossom he painted them almost daily, about 14 canvases in a few weeks, chasing the pink and white flowers before they fell. On the day he finished this one, a letter reached him from his sister with the news that Anton Mauve had died. Mauve was a cousin by marriage and the man who had first taught him to handle oil and watercolour. Van Gogh set aside the plain signature he had meant to add and instead wrote across the corner 'Souvenir de Mauve', in memory of Mauve. He told his brother Theo he wanted the tribute to be tender and cheerful at once, which is why he kept it all soft pink against a bright sky.