Auvers-sur-oise, a village near Paris famous as an artist’s paradise, has long painted tourists to spend their last day with Vincent van Gogh taking his final days and walking in the final footsteps of the tortured painter. However, there has been a fight in the town since art experts identified his final work before taking his life.
Van Gogh’s final painting was in conflict for decades. Because he didn’t date the work. However, in 2020, experts concluded that, as depicted in his “Tree Roots,” a knotted tree root that protrudes from the hillside of Aubers, was created, as was made on the day he died. This finding may have resolved one conflict, but it quickly sparked another conflict. This is between the municipality and the owner of the property that grows roots.
The main roots depicted in the painting are from the black locust trees, known by enthusiasts as “elephants” and are adjacent to public roads. After its historic value was discovered, the municipality claimed part of the private property near the road as public domain, saying it was necessary for maintenance. Property owners Jean François and Helene Sellinger fought the village. The Court of Appeals has recently concluded that there is no basis for the municipality’s claim.
However, Auvers mayor Isabelle Mézières has promised to continue the fight, and she can still sue her to the High Court. After the decision, she insisted that the site should belong to the public, not to the private owner. “The roots belong to auversois!” she wrote on social media, referring to the citizens of the area.
The ongoing battle over the roots of Van Gogh tree is in favour of a festive season for a population of 7,000, a large corporation where art tourism is hot in the spring.
The village is painted by other well-known painters, including Pierre Auguste Renois, Paul Cezanne and Kamille Pissarro. It’s just added to its charm. Its popularity allows French transport authorities to run seasonal limits from Paris, called “Impressionist Trains,” and people can come from afar and see what the local tourism bureau calls “an open-air museums over time.”
Property owners say the conflict is putting historic location at risk. Because the mayor has blocked experts from properly protecting the roots since their importance was established. In a telephone interview, Sellinger accused the administration case of using “an attempt to acquire culturally important sites” and simultaneously using local governments for risking their roots by “hindering the establishment of permanent protective structures.”
The local government and mayor declined to request comment. However, it is probably appropriate that the roots of these trees should be the subject of such a bonded conflict.
Van Gogh’s famous painting depicting intertwined trees shows the “struggle of life and the struggle against death.”
Still, the painting was bright and lively, and was made at the end of a productive period of Van Gogh’s troubled existence – after he spent time in exile with his ears cut, the village celebrates the Dutch painter who was rejected and embraced after his death. Van Gogh is a major attraction, including Sellinger.
The couple moved to Auvers in 1996 because the artist Mrs. Sellinger wanted to live in the place where Van Gogh worked. In 2013, they purchased a small plot of land near their home, connected it to the garden and extended the territory. Just a few years later, it turns out that the roots of that new property are an important part of art history.
Now, its roots have its own website and nonprofit organization, run by Sellinger. They are partnering with the Van Gogh Europe Foundation, which connects the museum with major locations linked to the painters, under the direction of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Last year, Sellinger began opening gardens to visitors for tours.
Sellinger claims that the couple has no intention of making their garden a destination and has not profited from the tour. He noted that the main route is mostly visible from the road, but the municipality places a 10-foot sign to partially obstruct the view and highlights the findings that “damage the front of the site.”
He said the enthusiasm of art experts and scholars who have been visiting them for many years, and persuaded the couple to open their land to the public. They now charge about $9 for a 30-minute 30-minute “walking through the landscape of Van Gogh’s final painting,” with the funds being spent on the storage costs.
Saturday was the beginning of a new tourist season. However, the dispute has destabilized property owners and raised concerns about root preservation.
“It created a deep sense of anxiety around sites that are looking for calm and quiet,” Sellinger said. “We still feel uneasy with the mayor during the war.”
