 The third , in the Chester Dale collection at the National Gallery of Art , Washington , DC . ( F656 ) he painted in his studio in December in a " very discreet color scheme " . Although the subject of the painting is immediately clear , the first tree , like a stepping stone , leads the spectator into the scene . Here Van Gogh was more concerned about emotional and spiritual reality than literal interpretation . The women harvest olives for sustenance . The way in which the trees seem to wrap around the women and the trees and the landscape are almost one , indicates an emotional bond and interdependence between nature and people . 
