In May 1889, Van Gogh voluntarily entered the asylum[3] of St. Paul[4] near Saint-Rémy in Provence.[5] There he had access to an adjacent cell he used as his studio. He was initially confined to the immediate asylum grounds and painted (without the window bars) the world he saw from his room, such as ivy covered trees, lilacs, and irises in the garden.[3][6] As he ventured outside of the asylum walls, he painted the wheat fields, olive groves, and cypress trees in the surrounding countryside,[6] which he saw as "characteristic of Provence." Over the course of the year, he painted about 150 canvases.[3]
The imposed regimen of asylum life gave Van Gogh a hard-won stability: "I feel happier here with my work than I could be outside. By staying here a good long time, I shall have learned regular habits and in the long run the result will be more order in my life."[6] While his time at Saint-Rémy forced him to manage his vices, such as coffee, alcohol, poor eating habits and periodic attempts to consume turpentine and paint, his stay was not ideal. He needed to obtain permission to leave the asylum grounds. The food was poor; he generally ate only bread and soup. His only apparent form of treatment were two-hour baths twice a week. During his year there, Van Gogh had periodic attacks, possibly due to a form of epilepsy.[7] By early 1890, when the attacks worsened, he concluded that his stay at the asylum was not helping him to recover, which led him to move to Auvers-sur-Oise just north of Paris in May 1890.[8]