The painting Olive Trees, now at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, is one of a series of ten or twelve paintings of olive orchards, which Van Gogh painted in 1889 then that he lived in the Saint-Rémy asylum. This painting is a landscape done in bright, complementary colors, with Van Gogh's characteristic lively brushwork. The image is roughly divided into thirds, the middle area, the trees, being very capricious. The brushstrokes describe the configuration of the land, the movement of the wind in the trees and the rays of the sun. The sun itself is extremely distorted in size and is also highlighted by an orange outline. It dominates the painting and perhaps takes on a “supernatural” aspect, perhaps representing divinity or faith. The curved trees all lean, even quiver, away from the center of the painting. They cast purple shadows, which shouldn't be possible given the location of the sun: realism is sacrificed for content. The largest of these shadows is in the center of the foreground and is not associated with any tree. We could see this central shadow as the thing from which the trees lean. The base of each tree is painted with red lines that ambiguously delineate where shadows would fall if the sun were directly overhead. The ground and trees have a singularly undulating appearance, while the sun is more stable and the distant mountains are still. The olive trees reflect the artist's Dutch heritage through his origin and his passion for bright colors, which comes from the reaction of a Dutchman. and love of colors. The main influences perceptible in this painting are those of Millet, Romanticism and the Impressionists. The Oliviers' link to Van Gogh's idol, Jean-François Millet, ...... middle of paper ......f the shadows are dotted with the orange of the ground, and the blue-purple of the mountains is both mixed with and adjacent to the yellow of the sky. The brushstrokes that achieve this are inspired by the Impressionists, but are more abundant and cruder than those an Impressionist would use. Like many of Van Gogh's paintings, The Olive Trees begins as a landscape and develops into a complex work, revealing influences from other eras. and places. Using the color theory and separate brushstrokes of the Impressionists, the movement and vivid colors of the Romantics, and the lighting and composition inspired by Millet, Van Gogh achieved the power and meaning that characterized his work. Van Gogh's paintings cannot be confused with those of any other artist of his time because, although all his means have criteria, his end results do not...