Auvers-sur-Oise

Van Gogh arrived in Auvers in May 1890 to be near Dr Gachet and produced work at extraordinary speed, around seventy paintings in roughly seventy days, before shooting himself in the fields above the village in July; he died in his room at the Auberge Ravoux, which is preserved unfurnished and can be visited. He and his brother Theo lie side by side in the village cemetery under ivy. The church he painted stands on the same rise, and reproductions are set at the spots where he worked so the painting can be compared with the view. Pissarro, Cezanne, Corot and Daubigny also worked here.

History

In the 19th century many painters lived and worked in Auvers-sur-Oise, among them Paul Cézanne, Charles-François Daubigny, Camille Pissarro, Camille Corot and Vincent van Gogh, who died here in 1890 and lies with his brother Theo in the village cemetery; Daubigny's house is now a museum, and the riverside path towards Pontoise passes views Pissarro painted. Artists kept coming in the 20th century, among them Henri Rousseau and Otto Freundlich, and the COBRA painter Corneille spent his last years here and is buried a few metres from Van Gogh (Wikipedia, Auvers-sur-Oise).

What you'll find

• The Auberge Ravoux - the room where Van Gogh died, kept bare.
• The church of Notre-Dame - the subject of one of his best-known canvases.
• The graves - Vincent and Theo side by side under ivy in the cemetery.
• The painting markers - reproductions set where each work was made.

When to go

April to October; the Auberge and most sites close in winter, roughly November to March. The wheatfields are at their most recognisable in June and July.

Things to know

Most of the village's sites close for the winter. The room at the Ravoux is empty by intention, which some find anticlimactic. The village is small and quiet with limited eating options.

Nearby

Pontoise lies southwest; Paris is southeast.

Key facts