"Auvers?"
Trish repeated. "That's right! He spent the last two months of his
life in Auvers. He was suffering from mental illness--it might have been
a kind of epilepsy--so his brother arranged to have a doctor in Auvers keep
an eye on him."
"But," I said, "it looks like he could still wander around the countryside."
"Well, he wasn't locked up," said Trish. "He loved the French countryside. This painting shows several people relaxing by the Oise River, near Auvers, north of Paris."
Bank of the Oise at Auvers. 1890
"Van Gogh painted some of his most famous paintings while at Auvers, like this one below."
Wheat Field with Crows, 1890
"It looks menacing," I said. "That dark sky and all those crows."
"Lots of people agree," Trish answered. "In fact, this may have been the last painting he made before he took his own life."
Trish turned back to the map. "Would you like to explore the map a little more? Or would you rather learn about other aspects of the painting. Or maybe try to get out?"
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