Peach Tree in Blossom — Vincent van Gogh, Arles 1888

Van Gogh learned of Anton Mauve's death the week he started this orchard in spring 1888 and finished it as a memorial. The pale pink of the peach blossom carries the gentle mood of the tribute; the original bore the inscription Souvenir de Mauve. Mauve had been Van Gogh's cousin by marriage and the teacher who gave him his first lessons in watercolour. Now at the Kunstmuseum Den Haag. A postcard that carries that particular tenderness into a greeting or a small framed display. From the Vincent van Gogh collection.