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In early 1890, Vincent's brother Theo had a son. He reluctantly accepted the honor of having the new child named Vincent, after himself and became the child's godfather. Immediately after finding about the healthy birth he began on a painting for the baby Blossoming Almond Tree. He wanted it to be hung above the bed in the parents' and child's room. Indeed, speaking of the child his brother's wife wrote "He always looks with very great interest at Uncle Vincent's paintings". Almond branches are a subject that Van Gogh visited a few times before. In earlier studies, he painted cut branches set in a vase as a still life. In this picture, Blossoming Almond Tree, for his nephew, he paints a very different composition. Instead of visiting the still life again, he shows white almond tree branches against a blue sky. It is not shown whether these branches are cut from the tree and sitting in a vase outside of the view of the viewer or if they are still on the tree, seen from below looking up towards the sky. It is an unusual composition for both art as a whole and for Van Gogh himself. Like many of Van Gogh's paintings, Blossoming Almond Tree has an influence from Japanese prints. Van Gogh collected and admired Japanese artists and used ideas such as bold color, dark outlines and the beauty of nature in his work. Like pictures by the Japanese artist Hiroshige, Almond Tree shows the branches of a tree against the backdrop of a sky. This Japanese creates a dynamic and modern composition while still being a recognizably Van Gogh painting. Van Gogh's Blossoming Almond Tree, also referred to as Almond Tree, represents much of what Vincent often thought about: rebirth. Trees blooming and flowering announces the beginning of spring and new life. As a gift to celebrate the birth of a child, this could not be more perfect.