“The effect of daylight and sky means that there are infinite subjects found in olive trees. For my part, I look for the contrasting effects of the foliage, which changes with the tones of the sky. Sometimes, when the tree bares its pale blossoms, large blue flies, emerald beetles and cicadas in large numbers fly over it, all bathed in pure blue. Then, as the foliage takes on more mature tones, the sky is radiant and streaked with green and orange, and then again, in autumn, the leaves take on purple tones the color of a ripe fig tree, and this purple effect is fully manifested with the contrast of the great sun in its pale halo of lemony light. “

These splendid words are from Van Gogh, who in 1889 painted one of his most successful series dedicated to olive trees. Although he ignored them at first, in the latter part of his life he gave these trees, like cypresses and wheat fields, a special significance: they represent the cycle of life, and the relationship between man, nature and the divine. Moreover, the twisting shapes and bright leaves of this tree represent well the strong feelings, particularly tumultuous in that very year 1889 that marks the painter’s illness and eventually his tragic death.

I love Van Gogh and his desperate search for life, in a life, his, so difficult and thankless.