Poplars near Nuenen

Nuenen, 1885. One of the last paintings of his Dutch period. And maybe the first of a new Vincent. He wanted a "symphony of yellow" from the poplar leaves, and he liked the result enough to carry the canvas with him when he moved to Paris a year later. Then the Impressionists hit him. He sees landscapes by Monet and Sisley, and suddenly his own canvas doesn't look so good anymore. So he takes it out again and paints the Impressionist future directly over his realist past.