The artwork, titled “Cottage with Trees,” is an oil on canvas painting created by Vincent van Gogh in 1885 during his time in Nuenen, Netherlands. This piece, which falls under the Realism movement, is a landscape genre painting. It is currently housed in the Wallraf-Richartz Museum in Cologne, Germany.
In this painting, Van Gogh depicts a serene yet somewhat somber rural scene. A large cottage dominates the foreground, rendered in dark, shadowy tones. Adjacent to the cottage are several leafless trees, their stark, gnarled branches stretching upwards against a backdrop of a dimly lit sky, which suggests either dusk or dawn. The overall color palette is earthy and muted, evoking a sense of quietude and stillness that aligns with the realistic portrayal of rural life.
