Cypresses was painted in late June 1889, shortly after Van Gogh began his yearlong stay at the asylum in Saint-Rémy. The subject, which he found "beautiful as regards lines and proportions, like an Egyptian obelisk," both captivated and challenged the artist: "It’s the dark patch in a sun-drenched landscape, but it’s one of the most interesting dark notes, the most difficult to hit off exactly that I can imagine." One of 2 close-up views of the "very tall and massive" trees in a vertical format (the other is in the Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo), Cypresses was shown in the 1890 Salon des Indépendants. (Notes: Van Gogh painted this picture in June 1889 at Saint-Rémy. He included a sketch of the composition in a letter of June 25 to his brother Theo. There is also a pen-and-ink drawing (F1525; Brooklyn Museum of Art) made after the painting.) (http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/437980)