Van Gogh painted these cypresses three times through the window of his room in the Saint-Rémy asylum. They are warm, sunny landscapes but with the narrow field of view of a port-holed observer. On July 2, 1889, Van Gogh described the works to his brother Theo in a letter: “I have a canvas of cypresses with a few ears of wheat, poppies, a blue sky, which is like a multicolored Scotch plaid.”
