‘Van Gogh and the Olive Groves’ at the Dallas Museum of Art

The Dallas Museum of Art and Van Gogh Museum Co-Organize First Exhibition Dedicated to Van Gogh’s Olive Grove Series

Van Gogh and the Olive Groves is the first exhibition dedicated to the legendary artist’s important olive grove series, produced in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence in the final year of his life. Co-organized by the DMA and the Van Gogh Museum, this groundbreaking presentation will premiere in October in Dallas, the only North American venue, and then travel to Amsterdam.

Upon arriving at the asylum of Saint-Rémy in May 1889, Vincent van Gogh was immediately captivated by the region’s abundant olive groves. That June through December, he produced a striking series of paintings that capture olive trees at different times of day and in different seasons. Van Gogh and the Olive Groves brings together this significant series for the very first time. It explores the intensely personal and spiritual meaning the motif held for the artist, while tracing his shifting motivations and stylistic approaches. Bold and experimental, the olive grove series reveals Van Gogh’s passionate investigation of the expressive powers of color and line, and his enduring belief in the consoling power of art.

This unprecedented exhibition contextualizes the olive grove series within the artist’s career and reveals exciting new discoveries on the artist’s techniques, materials, and palette through works drawn from public and private collections.

Vincent van Gogh, Olive Grove, Saint-Rémy, November 1889, oil on canvas, Gothenburg Museum of Art, Sweden.

Vincent van Gogh, Olive Grove with Two Olive Pickers, December 1889, oil on canvas, Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, The Netherlands.

About the Dallas Museum of Art
Established in 1903, the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) is among the 10 largest art museums in the country and is distinguished by its commitment to research, innovation, and public engagement. At the heart of the Museum and its programs is its global collection, which encompasses 25,000 works and spans 5,000 years of history, representing a full range of world cultures. Located in the nation’s largest arts district, the Museum acts as a catalyst for community creativity, engaging people of all ages and backgrounds with a diverse spectrum of programming, from exhibitions and lectures to concerts, literary events, and dramatic and dance presentations. With a free general admission policy and community outreach efforts, the DMA served more than 900,000 individuals on-site and off-site in 2019. For more information, visit DMA.org. The Dallas Museum of Art is supported, in part, by the generosity of DMA Members and donors, the citizens of Dallas through the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture, and the Texas Commission on the Arts.

About the Van Gogh Museum
The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, established in 1973, houses the largest collection of Van Gogh’s works in the world, with over 200 paintings, 500 drawings, and nearly all of his letters. The collection also features paintings, drawings, and sculptures from between 1840 and 1920 by Van Gogh’s friends and contemporaries, by artists who inspired him and by those whom he inspired, and a wealth of archival material relating to Van Gogh. In addition, the museum is home to an internationally acclaimed collection of fin-de-siècle prints and a collection of Japanese ukiyo-e woodcuts assembled by Van Gogh.

Drawing on its unique collection, the Van Gogh Museum has developed into the leading knowledge institute on Vincent van Gogh. The museum complements the presentation of the permanent collection with a varied program of temporary exhibitions focusing on the art of Van Gogh and his contemporaries. Each year, the Van Gogh Museum receives over two million visitors from all over the world. For more information, visit vangoghmuseum.nl.