River Bank in Springtime

Vincent van Gogh

May–July 1887

Oil on canvas

Dallas Museum of Art

The light, fresh tones and free brush strokes in this painting of the banks of the Seine are characteristic of a period in Vincent van Gogh's life when, having left Holland to work in Paris, he was absorbing the methods of the impressionist and neo-impressionist, or pointillist, artists. The traces of red paint visible around the edges of the painting are the remnants of a vibrant red border. Van Gogh painted similar red borders on two other landscapes of the same size as this picture, and it is believed that they were originally shown together as a triptych. The light, fresh tones and free brush strokes in this painting of the bank