Sprig of flowering almond in a glass

To Van Gogh’s enormous surprise, deep snow lay on the ground when he arrived in Arles. The warm climate had been one of his main reasons for moving to Provence. This sprig of almond blossom – which Vincent painted twice – shows that nature, too, had been surprised by the cold snap. It was because of the weather that Van Gogh had to paint indoors when first in Arles, concentrating particularly on still lives and portraits.