Is there anything else that needs to be said about Vincent Van Gogh? The most remarkable exhibition of 2023, Van Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise, The Final Months showcases an artist at the height of his art. This exhibition, which is the first to focus on the paintings created by Vincent Van Gogh (1853–1890) in the final two months of his life in Auvers-sur-Oise, close to Paris, opened in the autumn of 2023 at the Musée d’Orsay and remains on view for a few days now.

Years of study on this significant period in the artist’s life have culminated in this show, which at last helps viewers understand its actual significance, the artist’s psychology and his personal mental state.

After arriving in Auvers-sur-Oise on May 20, 1890, Vincent Van Gogh attempted suicide there on July 29. Even though the painter was only at Auvers for just more than two months, it was a prolific period of artistic renewal with a distinct style and evolution, one that produced some of his greatest works as well as the psychological tension brought on by his new circumstances.

So many masterpieces are featured in this show including Wheatfield with Crows and the iconic below self-portrait. There has never been an exhibition that is solely focused on this last but very important phase of his career. The artist created 33 drawings and 74 paintings in under two months, some of which are classic such as The Church at Auvers, and Portrait of Dr. Paul Gachet. The exhibition, which consists of about forty paintings and twenty drawings, focuses on the following themes from this time period: first, landscapes with the village as a background, next, still lifes, portraits, and landscapes with the surrounding countryside.

An unusual sequence of paintings by Van Gogh in an extended double-square size, not intended for sale at the time, are on display, the apogee of a historical and important show.

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Images: Vincent Van Gogh, Champ de blé aux corbeaux, juillet 1890, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, © Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation) and Vincent Van Gogh, Portrait de l’artiste (détail), en 1889, Musée d’Orsay, Don Paul et Marguerite Gachet, 1949, © Musée d’Orsay, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Patrice Schmidt