(Left) Tree in front of the house entrance at The Phillips Collection. Photo: Amy Wike. (Right) Vincent van Gogh, Olive Grove, September 1889. Oil on Canvas. Zurich, Private Collection.
Winter strips the trees in the museum’s front yard of their lovely green leaves, but in their bare state, I see an echo of Vincent van Gogh‘s painted olive trees. These unique, corkscrew-branched shrubs are Corylus avellana ‘Contorta,’ commonly known as Harry Lauder’s walking stick. Not quite olive trees, but I see the resemblance all the same.
Amy Wike, Publicity and Marketing Coordinator
Yes! You have a good eye!