Montmartre: behind the Moulin de la Galette

Van Gogh painted this large landscape near his home on the hill of Montmartre. The north side of the hill was dotted with vegetable gardens. Van Gogh painted with quick, loose brushstrokes, revealing the influence of (Neo)-Impressionism. The painting was shown in 1888, alongside the work of other cutting-edge artists at the Salon des Indépendants exhibition.

Van Gogh was highly satisfied with this landscape. He had considered donating it to the Museum of Modern Art in The Hague, which had opened in 1884, in order to show his new work to his fellow countrymen. (See letter to Theo van Gogh, 3 April 1888). It was a plan he would never actually carry out.