Portrait of Madame Recamier Van Gogh Museum The vibrant colors of The

The vibrant colors of The Olive Trees perfectly express the late afternoon hues of the Provence landscape

It represents three models posing naked in the painter's studio

As usual in works of Neoplatonic inspiration

almost provocative sensuality is tempered by the empty gaze

The artist would have planned this piece very carefully

Portrait of Madame Recamier Van Gogh Museum The vibrant colors of TheThe painting breaks with the traditional framing of the portraits, which are narrower on the faces of the models. David thus creates a real distance between the spectator and the half stretched young woman, like a Roman patrician. The ancient severity is mitigated by the grace of the model. It illustrates the social rise open to the bourgeoisie which seeks to impose itself by exploiting values and representations from Antiquity.