Thatched Cottages at Cordeville - June, 1890

This painting - which Vincent created during June of 1890 - is referenced in Hunters of Dune, by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson (at pages 201 and 202):

The Van Gogh painting hung on a metal wall of Sheeana's cabin. She had stolen the masterpiece from the Mother Superior's quarters before escaping from Chapterhouse. Of all the crimes she had committed during her flight, taking the Van Gogh was her only selfish and unjustified act. For years, she was drawn comfort from this great work of art and everything it represented.

With the glowpanels adjusted to perfect illumination, Sheeana stood unblinking before the masterpiece. Though she had studied the painting meticulously many times, she still gained new insight from the daubs of bright paint, the thick brushstrokes, the chaotic flurry of creative energy. A deeply disturbed man, Van Gogh had turned these splotches and smudges of color into a work of genius. Could pure, cold sanity have done as much?

Thatched Cottages at Cordeville had survived the atomic destruction of Earth ages ago, the Butlerian Jihad and ensuing dark ages, then Muad'Dib's Jihad, thirty-five hundred years of the Tyrant's rule, the Famine Times, and the Scattering. Without doubt, this fragile piece of art was blessed.

But its creator had been driven to the brink of madness by his passions.  Van Gogh had channeled his vision into color and form, a representational splash of reality so intense that it could only be conveyed on canvas.

The painting is now at the Musée d'Orsay, in Paris.

Credits

Quoted passage, from Hunters of Dune (2006), by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson (at pages 201 and 202).  Published by Tor Books, ISBN 0-7653-1292-1.