Pastoral beauty

"Auvers is very beautiful, among other things a lot of old thatched roofs, which are getting rare…for really it is profoundly beautiful, it is the real country, characteristic and picturesque," Vincent van Gogh wrote to his brother and sister-in-law in 1890.

Green on green

The green shutters of these houses match the surrounding greens of bushes and trees, suggesting a rustic lifestyle in harmony with the natural world. You can still visit these houses on Rue de Gré in Auvers.

Impasto skies

Van Gogh's technique of thickly applied paint with visible brushstrokes is known as 'impasto'. Zooming in here, you can see how impasto has been used to give texture to a tree leaning into a heavy sky.

Back-breaking labor

Caillebotte caused a stir in Parisian high-society during the 1870s by painting ordinary city laborers hard at work.

Sharing a word

The figures are painted so realistically that you can almost hear them talking to one another while they work.

A well-earned drink

Did you spot this bottle of wine? The workers are almost ready for some hard-earned refreshment.