Vincent van Gogh was one of the most famous Post-Impressionists and possibly also the most infamous. Many of us know him as the artist who cut off his ear.
Almond Blossom is part of the van Gogh flower paintings collection. It was painted in 1890 around the time van Gogh lived in the mental hospital, Saint-Paul-de-Mausole, in France.
When van Gogh heard that his brother and wife were expecting a baby and wanted to name him after Vincent, the artist produced this painting in their honor.
Van Gogh was charmed by all the beautiful blooming Almond flowers in Spring. Undoubtedly, the Almond blossom meaning lies in new life, brought on by Spring and a nephew.
Van Gogh painted a blue monochromatic background with part of an Almond blossom tree’s branches filling the foreground. There are numerous white Almond flowers on the branches.
The colors are all muted and gentle in their tones. There is turquoise blue for the background, pale whites, pinks, greens, other shades of blues, and striking black with hints of what appear like reds.
The brush lines appear like fluid semi-circular shapes along the tree branches, giving them a rounded shape, further enhancing a sense of three-dimensionality.
Some question where the tree branch originates from, whether it is a cutting of a branch from van Gogh’s previous still lifes of branches in glasses. Another consideration is that it is just a view of a branch attached to an Almond tree.
Van Gogh was a big fan and collector of Japanese prints, and this was in fact a large part of what inspired him to create Almond Blossom in the style of color, thick outlines, and perspective.
Soon after van Gogh painted Almond Blossom, he experienced another mental breakdown and this left him in recovery for a long time, which also left him unable to paint more almond flowers.