Le mystère du dernier Van Gogh

Racines is the very last painting created by Vincent Van Gogh, on the very day of his suicide, July 27, 1890, at the age of 37, with a gunshot wound near his heart. It is also one of his most intriguing works. For over 130 years, Racines has continued to raise questions about what it represents, its symbolism, and most importantly, the location and circumstances of its creation by the Dutch master. But since the summer of 2020, part of the mystery has been unraveled, thanks to the fortuitous discovery made by one of the leading specialists in the painter, the Franco-Dutch Wouter van der Veen. While organizing his home during the first lockdown, he found, on an old postcard of Auvers-sur-Oise, the actual subject of the painting and the precise location of its creation. A subject and a location that reveal much about the painter’s mental state just hours before his fateful act.