Enclosed Field behind Saint-Paul Hospital 1889

Vincent van Gogh made this drawing, Enclosed Field behind Saint-Paul Hospital, sometime before his death in 1890. It's a view from the grounds of the asylum where he was a patient near the end of his life. Consider how the location of the asylum, a place of confinement and control, might have influenced van Gogh’s perspective. The stark lines and swirling patterns, rendered in pencil and ink, create a sense of unease. The enclosed field becomes a metaphor for van Gogh's own mental state, trapped within the walls of his illness and the institution meant to treat it. Looking at the image, we might ask: what was the role of institutions in shaping the lives and experiences of individuals like van Gogh in 19th-century France? To truly understand this artwork, we need to consider the social and cultural context in which it was created, researching not only van Gogh's biography, but the history of mental health treatment, and the artistic conventions of the time.