Cypresses (Les Cyprès)

A single tall cypress rises through the center of the sheet, its foliage drawn in dense, looping curls that seem to twist upward in motion. Around the tree, the ground and sky are built from the same rolling, wave-like strokes, so the whole scene feels caught in one continuous rhythm of brown ink against the tan paper. The drawing was made in 1889 using brown ink and graphite on wove Latune et Cie Balcons paper, and it is held today at the Brooklyn Museum. The artist, Vincent van Gogh, is known for his painting The Starry Night. Looking closely, the clouds echo the same spiraling pattern as the tree itself, binding earth and sky into one unbroken, breathing surface of marks.