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The evening sun sets over the hills near Arles, lighting oak trees and bushes in gold and green, with the ruins of an abbey on the horizon. Painted in July 1888, Sunset at Montmajour was considered a fake for almost a century before it was recognised as a genuine Van Gogh in 2013.
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A walk at sunset
In the summer of 1888, Vincent van Gogh often walked from Arles to the rocky hill of Montmajour, crowned by the ruins of a Benedictine abbey. On 4 July 1888 he painted the landscape there at sunset. The next day he described the painting in a letter to his brother Theo: stunted oaks, stony heathland and, at sunset, the sun casting a shower of bright yellow over the bushes and the ground.
Rediscovered in an attic
The painting was later bought by a Norwegian collector in 1908, but it was soon declared a fake and banished to the attic, where it remained for decades. In 1991 the Van Gogh Museum examined it and also rejected it. Only in 2013, after two years of research into the canvas, the pigments, the style and the letters, did the museum announce that it was a genuine Van Gogh, the first full-size painting by him to be discovered since 1928.
The key evidence included the description in his letter and the inventory number of Theo's collection on the back, number 180, matching the list of works kept by the family.
The setting sun
The sun has just set behind the hills, and its last light streams across the sky in yellow and pale green. The light catches the tops of the trees and bushes, turning them gold, while the foreground falls into shadow.
Detail 1
Light from the setting sun
The sky glows yellow and green as the sun sets behind the hills. Its last rays touch the treetops with gold.
The oak trees
On the left, twisted oak trees rise against the sky, their branches painted with energetic strokes. Van Gogh was fascinated by the stunted, wind-shaped trees of Provence, and he painted them with great vitality.
Detail 2Twisted oaks
Wind-shaped oak trees stand against the evening sky, their trunks and branches drawn with lively, curving strokes.
The heathland
The foreground is filled with dense bushes, grasses and rocks in green, ochre and blue, painted with short, varied strokes. Van Gogh described the stony heath of Montmajour, and here he makes it vibrate with colour and movement.
Detail 3The stony heath
Bushes and grasses fill the foreground in short strokes of green, ochre and blue, conveying the wild vegetation of the hill.
Why it was doubted
Parts of the painting are less resolved than Van Gogh's best works, and he himself was not entirely satisfied with it. This uneven quality made experts doubt it for many years. Today it is seen as a revealing work from a crucial summer, when Van Gogh was finding the style of his greatest paintings.
The summer of 1888
Sunset at Montmajour belongs to an extraordinarily productive period. In the summer of 1888 Van Gogh painted the harvest, the gardens and the sea at Saintes-Maries, the portraits of the Roulin family and the first Sunflowers. He walked often to Montmajour, where he also made a series of large reed-pen drawings of the rocks and the plain, among the finest drawings of his career. The painting shows him experimenting with the intense colours and dynamic brushwork that would define his style in Arles. Its authentication in 2013 was a major event, adding a full-size canvas to his body of work and showing how much careful research, from letters and inventories to pigment analysis, can reveal about a painting's history.
Seeing Sunset at Montmajour
The painting measures about 73 by 93 centimetres. It belongs to a private collection and has been exhibited at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.
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From $299 — Make it yours.Frequently asked questions
Is Sunset at Montmajour a real Van Gogh?
Yes. After years of doubt, the Van Gogh Museum confirmed it as a genuine Van Gogh in 2013.
Where is Montmajour?
Montmajour is a rocky hill near Arles in Provence, crowned by the ruins of a Benedictine abbey.
Why was it in an attic?
Its Norwegian owner was told it was a fake soon after buying it in 1908, and he stored it in his attic.
Where is Sunset at Montmajour today?
It is in a private collection and has been shown at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.
Sources and further reading
- Van Gogh Museum, press release on the attribution of Sunset at Montmajour (2013)
- Vincent van Gogh, letter to Theo van Gogh, 5 July 1888
- Louis van Tilborgh and Teio Meedendorp, "The Discovery of Sunset at Montmajour", Burlington Magazine (2013)
