His Final Months offers a unique and impressive overview of the paintings and drawings that Vincent van Gogh created during the last seventy days of his life. He produced no fewer than seventy-four paintings and over thirty drawings in the course of the intense, productive period leading up to his self-inflicted death on July 29, 1890. While the Portrait of Dr Gachet, The Church at Auvers, and Wheatfield with Crows are numbered among his greatest masterpieces, this part of his oeuvre is otherwise less known--unfairly so--than the sunny landscapes he painted in the south of France.

The book follows the artist from his arrival in Auvers-sur-Oise, where he set to work full of hope and with fresh ambitions, through to his final weeks. Essays by leading Van Gogh specialists highlight his artistic ambitions and mental state during this final phase, his exploration of the Auvers landscape, the flower still lifes, the portraits, and the panoramic landscapes he painted there, the role played by his drawings, and his artistic reputation at the time of his death and in the years immediately afterward.

In addition to the Auvers paintings, the book is richly illustrated with drawings, sketches, historical photographs, and detailed maps of the places Van Gogh worked. Also featured are related works by contemporaries and predecessors whom he admired.