Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), Garden behind a House, 65 x 54 cm, Arles, 8 August 1888, Private collection.

Summer bustles through this garden, the heat is palpable from the darkness of the shadows in the trees and in the full-bodied roses. The well-watered centreground is flush with marigolds, whose worn but strong oranges extend the reliable shape of the farmhouse behind. This bright and definite force of life is necessary to balance the darkness of the shade.

Garden behind a House can be found in our new book Vincent Van Gogh: The Years in France, which provides the first comprehensive list of Van Gogh’s paintings executed between 1886 and 1890 in Paris, Arles, Saint-Remy and Auvers-sur-Oise.