Vincent van Gogh — Gallery of Selected Masterpieces from 1887 to 1890

In just ten years of active creativity, Vincent van Gogh created over 2100 artworks, including around 870 oil paintings. These included portraits, self-portraits, landscapes, still lifes, and compositions featuring sunflowers, cypresses, olive trees, and golden fields.

The artist’s method was to convey emotion through color and brushstroke movement. He abandoned precise representation of reality in favor of expressive lines and vivid, often unnatural hues. His style became a challenge to the academic norms of the time.

Van Gogh's paintings invite viewers to contemplate the world through the eyes of someone who saw poetry even in the humblest things — whether a chair, a field, or a starry sky over Arles. His works reflect the ability to find meaning in the mundane, and soul in every brushstroke.

We selected for publication more than 100 paintings created by Van Gogh between 1887 and 1890, for several reasons:

• During this period, his palette changed noticeably — dark earthy tones disappeared, giving way to clean, bright colors: vivid blue, golden yellow, crimson.
• A distinctive, almost swirling brushstroke appeared, fluid and alive, becoming the artist’s signature style.
• The themes became deeper — from simple still lifes to philosophical reflections on life, solitude, and the beauty of nature.

We begin with portraits because they reveal the inner world of the artist. These works, painted in Paris and Arles, are marked by extraordinary emotional intensity. Van Gogh used vibrant colors and dynamic brushstrokes not to depict physical likeness but to capture the model's inner state.

During this period, he also began painting himself actively — self-portraits became a form of self-understanding and an attempt to preserve his own "I" amid growing internal struggles.

Vincent van Gogh - Self-Portrait

1887, 40 × 31 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Self-Portrait

1887, 47 × 35 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat

1887, 35 × 27 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Self-Portrait with Straw Hat

1887, 40 × 32 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Le père Tanguy

1887, 92 × 75 cm

Vincent van Gogh - La Mousme

1888, 31 × 24 cm

Vincent van Gogh - An Old Woman of Arles

1888, 58 × 42 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Bildnis Patience Escalier

1888, 64 × 54 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Bildnis Patience Escalier

1888, 69 × 56 cm

Vincent van Gogh - La Mousme Sitting

1888, 73 × 60 cm

Vincent van Gogh - L'Arlesienne

1888, 91 × 73 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Portrait of Armand Roulin

1888, 65 × 54 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Portrait of Joseph Roulin

1888, 64 × 47 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Self-Portrait with Grey Felt Hat

1888, 44 × 37 cm

Vincent van Gogh - La Berceuse

1889, 91 × 71 cm

Vincent van Gogh - La Berceuse

1889, 92 × 73 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Portrait de Joseph Roulin

1889, 64 × 55 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Portrait of Doctor Felix Rey

1889, 64 × 53 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Portrait of Joseph Roulin

1889, 65 × 54 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Portrait of Joseph Roulin

1889, 67 × 56 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Self-Portrait

1889, 65 × 54 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Self-Portrait

1889, 65 × 55 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear

1889, 60 × 49 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Selfportrait with Fur Hat Bandaged Ear and Tobacco Pipeelf

1889, 51 × 45 cm

Vincent van Gogh - L'Arlesienne

1890, 65 × 54 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Paul Gachet

1890, 67 × 56 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Paul Gachet

1890, 68 × 57 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Peasant Girl with a Yellow Straw Hat

1890, 92 × 73 cm

Despite artistic growth, public recognition continued to elude Van Gogh. He sold few paintings, and those for modest sums. This greatly affected the artist's mental state, as he longed to be heard. In February 1888, Vincent left Paris and moved to Arles, France. There, he conceived the idea of the "Studio of the South" — a community of artists where they could work together, learn, and create art for future generations.

Vincent van Gogh - Zeegezicht bij Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer

1888, 51 × 64 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Wheatfield with Sheaves

1888, 55 × 66 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Veld met Bloemen bij Arles

1888, 54 × 65 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Van Gogh's Chair

1888, 93 × 73 cm

Vincent van Gogh - The Sower

1888, 32 × 40 cm

Vincent van Gogh - The Yellow House

1888, 72 × 91 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Train Bleu

1888, 46 × 49 cm

Vincent van Gogh - The Night Cafe

1888, 70 × 89 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Sunset at Montmajour

1888, 73 × 93 cm

Vincent van Gogh - The Cafe Terrace on the Place du Forum Arles

1888, 81 × 65 cm

Vincent van Gogh - The Cafe Terrace on the Place du Forum Arles at Night

1888, 91 × 61 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Sunflowers

1888, 95 × 73 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Sunflowers

1888, 43 × 61 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Pollard Willows and Setting Sun

1888, 31 × 34 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Red Vineyard

1888, 75 × 93 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Sower with Setting Sun

1888, 64 × 80 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Oleanders

1888, 60 × 73 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Langlois Bridge at Arles

1888, 49 × 64 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Korenschelven in de Provence

1888, 73 × 92 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Frutteti in Fiore (Veduta di Arles)

1888, 50 × 65 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Farmhouse in Provence

1888, 46 × 61 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Fishing Boats on the Beach

1888, 65 × 81 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Falling Leaves of Wheat Fields

1888, 73 × 92 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Drie Witte Hutten in Saintes-Maries

1888, 33 × 41 cm

Vincent van Gogh - De Oogst

1888, 73 × 92 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Coen Harvest in Provence

1888, 73 × 92 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Bedroom in Arles

1888, 72 × 90 cm

Vincent van Gogh - A Pair of Leather Clogs

1888, 32 × 40 cm

Vincent van Gogh - A Memory of the Garden at Etten

1888, 73 × 92 cm

Vincent dreamed of collaborating with Paul Gauguin, and his brother Theo helped finance the idea. That same year, Van Gogh moved to Arles, where he fully developed his unique artistic language. A new technique emerged — no longer pure Impressionism, nor simply Expressionism. It was based on the synthesis of form and color, capturing not only external appearance but essence — the spirit of the land, its energy, and inner states.

Vincent van Gogh - Wheatfield with a Reaper

1889, 59 × 72 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Wheatfield with a Reaper

1889, 59 × 71 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Vue de l'Asile et de la Chapelle de Saint-Rémy

1889, 44 × 60 cm

Vincent van Gogh - The Olive Trees

1889, 73 × 93 cm

Vincent van Gogh - The Large Plane Trees

1889, 73 × 91 cm

Vincent van Gogh - The Iris

1889, 62 × 48 cm

Vincent van Gogh - The Garden of the Asylum in the Saint-Rémy

1889, 71 × 90 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Sunflowers

1889, 95 × 73 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Sunflowers

1889, 92 × 72 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Still Life of Oranges and Lemons with Blue Gloves

1889, 47 × 64 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Sunflowers

1889, 100 × 76 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Pins et Soleil Couchant

1889, 92 × 73 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Olive Trees with Yellow Sky and Sun

1889, 73 × 92 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Lilac Bush

1889, 73 × 92 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Landscape from Saint-Rémy

1889, 73 × 92 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Les Cyprès

1889, 93 × 74 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Landscape with House and Ploughman

1889, 33 × 41 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Landscape from Saint-Rémy

1889, 70 × 88 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Laboureur dans un Champ

1889, 50 × 65 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Green Wheat Field with Cypress

1889, 73 × 92 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Field of Spring Wheat at Sunrise

1889, 72 × 92 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Evening Landscape with Rising Moon

1889, 72 × 92 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Bloeiende Boomgaarden (Gezicht op Arles)

1889, 50 × 65 cm

At the end of 1889, his works received attention at the “Les XX” exhibition in Brussels. Also in January 1890, the first positive article about the painting “Red Vineyards at Arles” was published in “Mercure de France” by Albert Aurier. But these events could no longer inspire Van Gogh as before. In July 1890, he created one of his last well-known works — “Wheatfield with Crows.” On July 27th, taking his materials with him, he walked outside the city and tragically shot himself. Thus ended the life of one of the greatest artists in history.

Vincent van Gogh - Wilde Rozen

1890, 24 × 33 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Vineyards with a View of Auvers

1890, 64 × 79 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Village Street and Steps in Auvers with Figures

1890, 50 × 70 cm

Vincent van Gogh - View of Auvers

1890, 50 × 52 cm

Vincent van Gogh - The Plain of Auvers

1890, 50 × 101 cm

Vincent van Gogh - The Church in Auvers-sur-Oise

1890, 94 × 74 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Street in Auvers-sur-Oise

1890, 73 × 92 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Still Life Vase with Pink Roses

1890, 51 × 51 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Still Life Vase with Irises

1890, 73 × 92 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Roses

1890, 71 × 90 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Roses

1890, 93 × 74 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Road with Cypress and Star

1890, 92 × 73 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Poppy Field

1890, 73 × 91 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Les Vessenots à Auvers

1890, 55 × 65 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Irises

1890, 92 × 73 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Landscape with a Carriage and a Train

1890, 72 × 90 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Green Wheat Fields, Auvers

1890, 72 × 91 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Garten in Auvers

1890, 64 × 80 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Cottages

1890, 60 × 73 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Cases à Auvers

1890, 60 × 73 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Almond Blossom

1890, 73 × 92 cm

If we speak of a certain range of van Gogh’s mastery, it ends at a transcendent level of reflection on color and continues in the precision of every brushstroke. His painting is magnificent in the deliberateness of his emotions. It seems to us that the great master often painted the antithesis of what he truly felt within himself. Here is what he once wrote in a letter to Theo:

But the sight of the stars always makes me dream, as simply as I dream when looking at the black dots on a map that represent towns and villages. Why, I ask myself, should the shining dots of the sky be less accessible to us than the black spots on the map of France? Just as we take the train to Tarascon or Rouen, death takes us to the stars.

At Gostev’s, a comparison was sometimes made between Russian and Western painters, suggesting that there is thousands of times more tragedy in a pair of van Gogh’s shoes than, for example, in Surikov’s “The Morning of the Streltsy Execution.” Evaluating Vincent’s work, based on our own preferences, sense of taste, and the emotional impact of his paintings, we highlight several works of the master of stars and the swirling brushstroke:

Vincent van Gogh - Starry Night

1888, 72 × 92 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Wheat Field with Cypresses

1889, 73 × 93 cm

Vincent van Gogh - The Olive Trees

1889, 72 × 92 cm

Vincent van Gogh - The Garden of Saint-Paul Hospital

1889, 50 × 63 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Starry Night

1889, 74 × 92 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Olive Trees

1889, 49 × 63 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Olive Grove

1889, 72 × 92 cm

Vincent van Gogh - Irises

1889, 71 × 93 cm