Racines – Van Gogh Roots

The Association for the Safeguarding of the Roots Site opened to the public the bank on the rue Daubigny that researchers identified as the subject of Tree Roots, Van Gogh's last painting, painted on 27 July 1890.

Who they are and how the place was discovered

In spring 2020, Wouter van der Veen, scientific director of the Institut Van Gogh, noticed an Auvers postcard from 1912 and recognised in it the roots and the bank of the painting. In 2021 a photograph from 1907 allowed the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam to confirm the find. The bank is on the rue Daubigny, in the village. The site's website is edited by the Serlinger couple, neighbours on the same street, with Jean-François Serlinger in charge of content, and the association is responsible for protecting the place and showing it with guided visits.

The visit

The visit is always guided: to protect the bank and the vegetation it cannot be toured on your own. It lasts about 30 minutes and follows a path through the Van Gogh woods in eight stages, marked with eight panels. That path linked the village centre with the wheat fields of the plateau, the same ones the painter portrayed in his last weeks, and it lay hidden for some 130 years. The guide explains how the place was identified, which elements of the landscape are still in place and recognisable in the painting, the role of the acacias, Van Gogh's relationship with nature, his last days in Auvers and the legacy of the Van Gogh family.

It is a short, outdoor visit along a path in the woods, so it is wise to wear comfortable shoes; the website gives no accessibility information for wheelchairs or pushchairs. It fits well into a day in Auvers with the Ravoux inn, the church and the cemetery where Vincent and Theo are buried.

Times, prices and bookings

You book online, on the form on its website, choosing a date and an arrival slot: on the form there are slots from 10:30 to 11:30, from 11:30 to 12:30 and from 14:30 to 18:00, and within each slot you arrive whenever you like. On Saturdays and Sundays there are fixed hours and on weekdays it opens by reservation. Each booking admits 1 to 20 visitors. The price is €8 per person over 12; the website does not make clear whether children pay, so it is wise to ask. Nor does it publish cancellation conditions or payment method.

For questions or problems with a booking they refer you to [email protected]; on some pages [email protected] also appears. The address is 46 rue Daubigny, in Auvers-sur-Oise.

Languages

The website is in French, English and Chinese. It does not indicate in which languages the visit is given: on the form there is a field for special requests, where you can ask for an English-speaking guide. In Spanish there is no visit advertised.