"Van Gogh Up Close" at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

When Vincent Van Gogh, troubled by intense personal anxieties, left Antwerp in spring 1886 for Paris and then the warmth of southern France, he turned his gaze from the azure skies of Arles, Saint-Rémy and Auvers to the ground beneath his feet. He had become so passionate about the beauty of the natural world, the somber palette and solemn subjects of his native Netherlands now seemed outdated ...