The Large Plane Trees (Road Menders at Saint-Rémy) — History & Facts
A row of massive plane trees dominates the foreground, their twisting trunks and spreading branches rendered with thick, swirling brushstrokes. The trees cast blue and violet shadows across the ochre earth, their bark streaked with cool greens and greys that contrast with the golden leaves above. Piles of pale rocks and mounds of earth line the road, painted with energetic, almost sculptural strokes that give a sense of movement and texture.
To the left, a woman in a blue dress stands near a heap of stones, her form outlined in dark paint against the lighter ground. A green-shuttered building rises behind the plane trees, its yellow walls catching the warm light, while a streetlamp leans at an angle near the group of walkers. The entire scene is animated by the artist’s vigorous brushwork, which creates a sense of rhythm in the foliage, the bark, and the undulating ground.
Three figures dressed in dark clothing stand together near the left edge, their faces turned toward each other as if in conversation. In the middle distance, two workers are visible, bent over and engaged in roadwork, with their forms loosely outlined in ochre and brown. A blue bucket and a red object rest on the low stone wall in the right foreground, their colors standing out against the pale stones.
The far right edge of the painting features a diagonal row of rectangular stone blocks, their surfaces catching streaks of orange and white light. The upper background is filled with dense, overlapping branches and leaves, painted in short, broken strokes of yellow, orange, and blue. Light falls unevenly across the scene, illuminating the tops of the mounds and the trunks, while deep blue shadows pool at the base of the trees and along the roadside. The palette is dominated by yellows, greens, and blues, with accents of pink and orange in the leaves and the earth, creating a lively, sunlit atmosphere.
Every element, from the smallest stone to the distant figures, is described with the same intensity of vision, uniting the scene in a single, expressive language.
More Artworks by Vincent van Gogh

The Starry Night
Vincent van Gogh

Van Gogh's Chair
Vincent van Gogh

The Night Café
Vincent van Gogh

Self-Portrait (1889)
Vincent van Gogh

Café Terrace at Night
Vincent van Gogh

Almond Blossom
Vincent van Gogh

Flowering Garden
Vincent van Gogh

A Wheatfield, with Cypresses
Vincent van Gogh

Orchard in Blossom (Plum Trees)
Vincent van Gogh

Snowy Landscape with Arles in the Background
Vincent van Gogh
More Landscape Art

The Starry Night
Vincent van Gogh

View of Delft
Johannes Vermeer

Water Lilies
Claude Monet

The Grand Canal, Venice, looking north-west from the Ca' Corner to the Ca' Contarini degli Scrigni, with the campanile of Santa Maria della Carità
Canaletto

Windsor Castle
Canaletto

The Grand Canal looking North-East from the Palazzo Dolfin-Manin to the Rialto Bridge
Canaletto
