Van Gogh's Almond Blossom: Who It Was For and What It Means
Van Gogh painted Almond Blossom in 1890 as a gift for his newborn nephew. What the almond meant, what he took from Japanese prints, and where the painting went.
Almond Blossom shows white flowers on branches against a blue sky. Van Gogh painted it in February 1890, after his brother Theo and Theo's wife Jo wrote to say they had a son. The painting was a gift for the baby, who was named Vincent after his uncle. That boy later founded the Van Gogh Museum, where the painting hangs today.
Who was Almond Blossom painted for?
Almond Blossom was a gift for Theo and Jo van Gogh's newborn son, Vincent Willem. That is how the Van Gogh Museum, which owns the painting, describes it.
In the letter announcing the birth, Theo wrote to his brother: "As we told you, we'll name him after you, and I'm making the wish that he may be as determined and as courageous as you."
Van Gogh was living in the asylum at Saint-Rémy at the time. The museum notes that this was the work that remained closest to the hearts of the Van Gogh family, which is easy to understand: it was painted for the child who carried his name.
Almond Blossom at a glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Title | Almond Blossom (Amandelbloesem) |
| Artist | Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) |
| Date and place | February 1890, Saint-Rémy-de-Provence |
| Medium and size | Oil on canvas, 73.3 × 92.4 cm |
| Museum | Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (s0176V1962) |
The Dutch title is Amandelbloesem. If you search the museum's collection, the object number s0176V1962 takes you straight to the painting, its provenance and a zoomable image.
Why almond blossom? An early flower for a new life
According to the Van Gogh Museum, large blossom branches against a blue sky were one of Van Gogh's favourite subjects. Almond trees flower early in the spring, which makes them a symbol of new life.
So for a newborn, Van Gogh chose one of the first trees to flower each year. One caution: this guide has not found a letter in which Van Gogh explains the painting's meaning in a single phrase. The reading of the almond as new life comes from the museum's commentary, not from the painter's own words, and it is worth keeping the two apart.
What Van Gogh took from Japanese prints
The museum says Van Gogh borrowed three things from Japanese printmaking for this painting: the subject, the bold outlines, and the way the tree is placed in the picture.
You can check all three on the canvas. There is no ground and no horizon. The branches enter from the edges and are cut off by the frame, so they seem to float in front of a flat blue sky. It feels as if you were standing under the tree, looking up at a single branch.
The flowers and twigs are outlined in dark lines, and the sky is laid in as one broad field of color. Compare it with the swirling sky of The Starry Night, painted at the same asylum the year before, and the calm of Almond Blossom stands out.
What happened to the painting and the boy
The provenance tells the rest of the story. Van Gogh sent the painting from Saint-Rémy to Theo in Paris at the end of April 1890. After Theo died on 25 January 1891, it passed to Jo and their son, and Jo looked after it until her death in 1925.
In 1962, Vincent Willem transferred the collection, this painting included, to the Vincent van Gogh Foundation. The museum opened in Amsterdam on 2 June 1973. The gift made for a baby now hangs in the museum that the baby, grown up, founded.
A viewing sequence for Almond Blossom
- Step back and find where each branch enters the picture and where the frame cuts it off
- Follow the dark outlines from the thickest branch to the thinnest twigs
- Find open flowers and buds, and compare the whites of different blossoms
- Look at the blue sky and see whether it is equally bright everywhere
- Step back again and notice whether the branches seem to grow past the edges
Almond Blossom is one of the paintings in the Van Gogh wallpaper guide for Mac. For another Van Gogh flower question, read How many Sunflowers did Van Gogh paint?
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