The White Orchard — Vincent van Gogh, Arles 1888

One of the first canvases Van Gogh made after arriving in Arles in spring 1888, the white orchard series marked his encounter with the Provençal spring. The plum trees in white blossom, the blue sky behind — the palette suddenly bright after the grey winters of Paris and Antwerp. It was the beginning of his Arles flowering. The painting is in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. A postcard for a spring greeting, a blossom collection, or a reminder of the Arles beginning. From the Vincent van Gogh collection.