Share to XAt the start of this year, I wrote about some of Claude Monet’s lesser-known paintings. This was quite popular, so I thought I would do the same for Vincent van Gogh. Like Monet, van Gogh had an extensive body of work comprising over 800 paintings and 1,000 drawings. A handful of those steal the show, such as The Starry Night and Irises. But I was sure there were many impressive paintings that, for whatever reason, had flown under both my and the public’s radar. After spending a few weeks going over his entire portfolio, these are what I came up with. Perhaps a few will be new to you. I leaned towards his latter, more colorful works. This was van Gogh at his best. His muted, early paintings were more him finding his feet.
Undergrowth Paintings
The three paintings below share a similar subject and style. I couldn’t pick just one as I find them all stunning. Van Gogh’s approach was perfectly suited to these subjects, with all the dancing colors and details, and how the trees weave in and out of focus.
View From Theo’s Apartment, c.1887
A candid subject done in a sketchy, illustrator style. Look how van Gogh approached the sky. All kinds of dots, dabs, and textures for a rather simple area. Yet it doesn’t appear too busy due to the compressed values.
Saint-Paul Hospital Park, 1889
Van Gogh leaned more into abstraction and expressionism with this one. I must say I prefer his paintings that have a more realistic foundation, but I do like the energy of this one.
Trees in the Asylum Garden, 1889
Has a similar feel to the tree painting above. It reminds me of the New Zealand landscape, with all the rich, distinct colors. Notice how his strokes follow the general contours of the subject.
River Bank in Springtime, 1887
Van Gogh used more restrained colors here, with the dull greens, blues, and yellows. I love how all the areas partially melt together, yet still appear somewhat distinct. Also notice the diagonal theme to his strokes.
Field with Poppies, 1889
An interesting, downward perspective of poppy and crop fields. The lack of sky gives it a busy, clustered feel. The small bursts of red contrast nicely against the surrounding sea of greens (they are complementary colors, meaning they are on opposite sides of the color wheel).
Farming Village at Twilight, 1884
One of van Gogh’s more restrained paintings. This would be a hit with the Tonalists. I love the hint of warm sunlight showing through gaps in the trees around the left.
The Rocks, c.1888
Notice van Gogh’s luscious strokes and how he used dark outlining to define the rocks. Also notice the subtle color shifts in the sky. I see pale oranges, greens, yellows, and blues. It does get a bit sloppy though with that dark blue patch around the middle of the sky.
In the Dunes, 1883
A classic, more traditional landscape. It’s usual to see a van Gogh painting without his distinct, swirling strokes! It has a bit of a John Constable feel to it.
Daubigny’s Garden, c.1890
Van Gogh made great use of impasto texture here, particularly with the flowers in the foreground. Notice the strong color theme, with pale greens and a few bursts of cadmium red. One of van Gogh’s strengths was being able to narrow the subject down to it’s true essence and then really push in that direction with his work. It’s why his paintings appear honest even though they aren’t that realistic.
First Steps, After Millet, 1890
A powerful subject! This resonates with me at the moment as our youngest is on the verge of taking her first steps.
Grapes, Lemons, Pears, and Apples, 1887
Look at all the energy and movement van Gogh was able to inject into this still life. The fruit appear to vibrate in the surface.
(Tip: The subject doesn’t need to be active and moving for you to inject a sense of movement. Everything around us is moving and active on some level. Try to capture that in your work.)
Landscape at Twilight, 1890
What a striking sky! Those dabs of light yellow really sing against the dark green land.
“There is a sun, a light that for want of another word I can only call yellow, pale sulphur yellow, pale golden citron. How lovely yellow is!” — Vincent van Gogh to his brother Theo, August 1888
Olive Trees, 1889
Van Gogh painted olive trees on numerous occasions. This version slipped under my radar until now. Van Gogh took a pointillist approach with the sky, with dabs of different blues and yellows over a light purple background. It has a dynamic appearance. I love how van Gogh was able to take quiet, open areas and paint them with a sense of energy and life. This is the power of painting how you experience the subject, rather than simply painting what you see.
Sheaves of Wheat, 1890
The classic haystack subject, with van Gogh’s signature strokes. It’s an interesting play of color temperature, particularly around the shadows. Notice the pale blues against the dark oranges.
Stacks of French Novels, 1887
One of van Gogh’s more subtle paintings. Notice the color links between the books and the background. And how he continued the rigid, geometric theme with tile brushwork for the desk surface. This also shows that almost anything can form a good painting subject. You just need to be creative.
The Unloading in Arles, 1888
This one smacks you in the face, doesn’t it? The yellows and oranges glow as if van Gogh painted with sunlight itself. I also like the use of green at the top of the sky and how he gently weaved it in with the yellows. These low-light subjects are a perfect excuse to be a bit relaxed and fluid with your brushwork, particularly in the dark areas.
Harvest in Provence, 1888
This one appears to be watercolor plus ink. It’s an interesting play between thin washes of color and sharp, detailed linework. It gives good insight into how van Gogh saw the subject, with all the suggestive lines and dots. It also shows that van Gogh had an eye for detail and was able to be intricate if needed (he wasn’t limited to lucious, swirling strokes and simplified details).
Flower Pot With Chinese Chives, 1887
An understated subject. I selected this one for the sense of texture and grit, particularly on the vase and background. I do wonder what the background is. The bottom doesn’t line up. Perhaps it’s a curtain, not a wall? Perhaps it was just a clumsy mistake?
Meadow With Flowers Under a Stormy Sky, 1888
Look at those dramatic clouds! Van Gogh leaned heavily into the sense of structure and form of the clouds without compromising their nature. He used just enough soft edges to make it work. The land, on the other hand, is an intricate dance of dots, lines, and flat color planes.
Here are a few others:
If you enjoyed this, make sure to join my Exploring the Masters email series. Each week, I’ll share a new artist for you to explore.
Thanks for reading! Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
Dan Scott
Draw Paint Academy
As a lifelong follower of van Gogh, I was thrilled to see your assessments of these rarely seen paintings. I even saw 1 or 2 ones new to me! Thank you.
On Substack recently the great critic and biographer AN Wilson made the case for Constable as a great painter and he took an unusual tack. He did so by attacking van Gogh as grossly overrated with only 10 good paintings. And not one commenter had stood up to him when I last looked. I think there are 80 van Gogh’s I would choose to borrow for a year than anyone Constable and your article is great ammunition.
Thank you for taking the time to bring all these beautiful paintings of Vincent to us! I would have never known they existed
Beautiful!
Thank you.
The lesser-known works of Van Gogh reveal a deeper, quieter magic — there’s a sense of discovery and wonder in these hidden corners of his art. They feel raw, honest and full of emotion, reminding us how even the ordinary — trees, fields, humble still lifes — can glow with life under his brush.
I was blown away with the “unknown” paintings!
Would love to see them in person.
I’m currentlyreading an “old” book, published 1934, Lust For Life by Irving Stone. Picked it up in library on for sale table!
Absolutely thrilled I got to see unknown paintings.
Thanks Dan great pictures.
Around 1840 Monet was hanging out with Paul John Russell /australian impressionist who had a boat and house in France.His work looks like Monets maybe there was some influence with the simplified style in your examples at that time.
I am just blown away by these early paintings of Van Gogh! They seem so different from the ones I know so well – so alive and vivid. You have just widened my horizons! In my weekly art class we have just done a session on painting fruit: pears, simple shapes so no worry about being able/not able to draw, leaving you free to focus on other things like brushstrokes, colour contrast, background. The painting “Grapes, Lemons, Pears and Apples” is that exercise in spadefuls. Thank you so much for this post 🙂
These are fabulous paintings, Sam. I love your style as much as the Masters and enjoy looking at them all. Thank you so much for sharing all your expertise and knowledge.
A stupendous bouquet on works of such a great artist
Loved it
Flower Pot with Chives appears to me to deffinately be a curtain. Curtain has folds, while pot appears to be on a worn slab with upper left a broken edge. Hopefully others see this as well. Thnx Dan
The timing of your post is serendipitous. Just yesterday I finished reading a book titled “The Secret Life Of Sunflowers” by Marta Molnar. It was novel based on the life of Johanna Van Gogh the wife of Vincent Van Gogh’s brother Theo. She was instrumental in bringing attention and finally Fame to the paintings of Vincent Van Gogh who up until that time had been largely ignored by his contemporaries and critics of the day. According to the extensive research of the author, Molnar, it was Johanna’s love for her husband Theo Van Gogh and his love for his brother Vincent, that, after both of their sad deaths, pushed her to bring Vincent’s works to the attention of first the Netherlands and Europe and eventually to the world. Perhaps without her determination and perseverance, Van Gogh’s beautiful and unique works may never have seen the light of day!
Loved seeing these beautiful pictures and appreciate all of your research and comments!
Mais quelles découvertes ! Mille fois merci, encore et toujours.
Several of these paintings are dated 1853. Van Gogh would have been about 275 days old, at the most, in 1853. For example, you have, “Daubigny’s Garden, c.1853”. I thought you meant 1883, however, Daubigny’s Garden was painted in 1890. You also have “Vincent van Gogh, Trees, c.1853”. The correct title of that painting is “Trees and Undergrowth” and the correct year it was painted was 1887. You have “Vincent van Gogh, View of a Butcher’s Shop, c.1853.” Van Gogh painted that one in the Carrel hotel and restaurant at 30, Rue Amédée Pichot in Arles, February 1888. Please make the corrections.
Thanks for picking that up Nick! Good eye for detail. I’ll fix these up.
Re: Vincent van Gogh, Daubigny’s Garden, c.1853.
You mentioned that “Notice the strong color theme, with pale greens and a few bursts of cadmium red”.
I’m afraid that cannot be correct. You see, “Cadmium red was developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its chemical composition patented in Germany in 1892 and first sold commercially as an artist’s pigment in 1910.”
I totally agree with you re “The Rocks”; it is my choice of the lot…were it not for the blue patch!
I LOVED THIS! Van Gogh is my favorite artist! Thank you so much!
Hi Dan:
Happy you shared “Poets Garden”!
I enjoyed this spectacular work first hand in 1972 at The Chicago Art Institute with my PHD Candidate Art Professor. We almost missed the bus returning to UW Madison.
One must see this particular piece “in person” to experience the movement of the trees that Van Gogh captured so exquisitely!
Love these! It’s always wonderful not only to see the paintings I haven’t seen before, but to read your thoughts and comments. THANK YOU DAN
Wonderful collection of paintings by the now famous artist. Thankkyou Dan, for
showing what a prolific painter, Van Gogh was, very inspiring indeed. Please post other painter’s works, very inspiring.
That was another deep delve into some unknown works by an artist. Love your commentary and your selection. Shows a different side of Vincent!❤️❤️❤️
It was wonderful to see these paintings and the simplicity, energy, and sometimes complexity he used to get his point across. I really enjoyed having the opportunity to study them.
Thank you for all the work you put in to getting this collection together.
Absolutely great selection of his work I never had seen before such an amazing man Really appreciate all these wonderful examples Dan thankyou 😀 😊 ❤️
Thank you so very much for this amazing collection of Vincent’s paintings, I do really appreciate the work you put in to arrange this collection of paintings – thanks again and have a good night, Hans
Thanks for compiling this visual list, it’s such beautiful work. Two things I’d add: 1) the Van Gogh Museum in Arles has a great collection of the charcoal sketches he made that later became these full paintings. They’re about the same size and beautiful works on their own. He wrote to Theo that he didn’t want to commit anything to paint until he’d fully mastered perspective and anatomy. 2) I wrote and recorded the song Doctor Gachet when it was sold in the late 1990s for what was then the highest price ever paid at auction, though I got the amount wrong (from a news article). It’s one of my most requested songs to this day. You can find it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VS0PbVaQyT4.
Thank you for posting these Dan. I am remember reading that Van Gogh created around 900 paintings, 1200 of which are housed in museums throughout the world 🙂
Incredible,I was in awe of the colours,the use of yellows.greens in sky.
The tiny strokes,I wandered what brush he used.
Ar where the idea for always using lines,dots,guess we will never know.
Thank you,for all your work putting the collection on your site.
Regards.
Canada,
Christine tsotros.
P,s.
I realize you are extremely busy,but I wondered if any passed posts on choosing frames
I did sent picture couple weeks back..
🇨🇦🇨🇦🤗✋✋✋
Love the ability to see the brush strokes and appreciate the subtle touch of the color. Thanks so very much for sharing this beautiful work!
Love these paintings! Thank you so much for sharing them with us.
Really inspirational. Thank you.
I look to Vincent when I’m struggling to get movement into my work. His ability to follow the planes of shapes (trees, fields, buildings, people) and his brilliance in placing a stroke of paint and LEAVING it just amazes me. What is really interesting to me while looking at all these paintings you gathered together is that there really isn’t a clear time delineated progression in his style. Sometimes he was doing the strong impasto/lay it and leave it/follow the shapes/high key palette style of his in 1953 but even in later years he would “revert” to other techniques like the pointillism and get close to a more traditional style but then bounce right back to HIS style. Gives me hope for my own progression even when I have lapses back to stuff I don’t like so much.
This collection inspired me. It makes me want to paint all day, every day.
More than that, it revealed more of Van Gogh, who seems to be known mostly for his starry nights and cloud-filled skies. I want to spend more days drinking in the sprit and style of these works. Thank y9u for collecting them for us, and for all your other posts.
Thank you Dan!
Vincent created a whole new painting style and it’s stunning to see how it works so well.
Dave
Thank you, thank you, thank you! Van Gogh is my all time favorite artist ever since my first trip to the Philadelphia Art Museum in seventh grade (at age 12). I am going to print this out to have forever.
What breadth in color and strokes! Thank you. I had not seen many of these. He was the Master!
Wondering if you came across the one he did in pointilest style??? I’ve maybe only seen it twice & can no longer remember (I’m 76) title or subject even but like so many of his awesomely beautiful!! It was a square canvas. Thnx for your time, dedication & sharing!
Stunning, gorgeous and breathtaking! Thank you.
Whenever I read your well researched and thoughtful articles, I feel as if I’ve attended a mentally stimulating lecture – thank you! It broadens my perspective and enriches my life. I’ve watched my husband brought to tears standing in front of one of his paintings at the National Gallery in London – “feeling” the experience Van Gogh evoked. Many of these paintings produce a similar effect.
I never get tired of Van Gogh’s paintings. Thank you for posting the “lesser known” and absolutely beautiful works!
I have enjoyed this post certainly as much as Monet. I think it’s obvious how Van Gogh struggled with his failure in being recognized as a great artist and being able to sell his art and trying (desperately, it seems) to find his style. I definitely love his later work Fishing in Spring being my favorite, as I think that truly defines his imaginative style. Thanks, Dan, for sharing your commentary brought out details that needed notice.
These are so beautiful! And inspiring! Thank you so much for sharing!
Dan,
Absolutely brilliant! THANK YOU for sharing these unknown works of van Gogh. He is one of my favourite artists. Your emails continue to inspire me – thank you!
Thanks so much, this was a very thought provoking post, and thoughtful of you to send it!!!!
Powerful yet very personal are these paintings. I am starting to understand your comment about painting how you experience a scene rather than just what you see.
Some really lovely unknown pieces of Van Gogh’s paintings. He has been one of my favourite painters for decades. Thank you for sharing these with us.
Thank you for compiling this collection of Van Gogh’s lesser knowns and sharing it. Very interesting.
I LOVED this, and read it avidly. Van Gogh is probably my favorite artist, so I was pleasantly shocked with how many of these paintings I haven’t seen before!
Thank you so much for researching this and sharing it with your followers. I enjoyed seeing with new eyes, the color and movement in the every day views around us.
Dan, Thank you so much! For me, all of Van Gogh’s work has “charm’ to it. I’m sure that’s a word he would not have liked. So, it is an aspect of the man that comes through.
IMPRESSIVE–wonderful collection. enjoyed them all!!! Thankyou for sharing.
Spectacular Van Gogh paintings. Thank you.
A great reminder how prolific van Gogh was as a painter. Some of these are little gems, and I always go and visit Rain at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It’s a perennial favorite.
There seems to be a glitch in your article. It says the following paintings were painted in the year Van Gogh was born, 1853.
I was stunned when I learned that Van Gogh painted for only about 10 years. Some sources say he started painting in 1881 at the age of 27. Wikipedia: “In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks, including around 860 oil paintings, most of them in the last two years of his life.” Absolutely astounding to me.
(I include dates I found on the Internet. I’d check for accuracy if I were you.)
Undergrowth, 1889.
View From Theo’s Apartment, 1887.
The Rocks, 1888.
Daubigny’s Garden, 1890.
View of a Butcher’s Shop, 1888.
Trees, 1887.
Thanks for posting the article.
👍
What a treasure trove you have here. Van Gogh’s works are so full of life, vibrating with energy. It is wonderful to see these unfamiliar works. Thank you.
Hallo Dan.
Bedankt voor je informatieve berichten. Ik leer er veel van.
Wat me opvalt bij de onbekende Schilderijen van Vincent is de verschillende stijlen waarin ze geschilderd zijn. Het lijkt soms alsof het door diverse personen is gemaakt.
Love these! Gives me a whole other view of his works (and I like many of them better than some of his more famous ones). Thanks for “digging them out”, Dan!
Thank you Dan, really great to see all those paintings!!
Thanks so much for this article and photos of the paintings.
I
Whoa, amazing you found so many
‘unknown paintings’ of the great man. Your research quite clearly was a labor of love.
Thank you so much.
Peter Gibb.
Thank you, Dan for making these lovely paintings available to us. Much appreciated!
Absolutely brilliant! Little known, create novelty and freshness while being work of a master quality remains top class. Please continue this approach for other famous painters.
Thank you, Dan for showing us this side of Van Gogh…I am a huge fan of both of you!
Thank you Dan for the leg work. What an Artist! It brought tears to my eyes at the sheer scale and talent that was van Gogh.