Darling buds: books, music, theatre and more with spring in their hearts

From Chaucer’s elemental epic to Gnarls Barkley’s alternative take on gospel, our critics suggest popular culture inspired by the season’s sense of renewal

Van Gogh painted Almond Blossom in 1890, the last year of his life, but even as he struggled with mental illness, the powerful colours of spring set his brush fizzing. Two years earlier, he had painted the fierce spring colours of Provence with intoxicated joy. Now he recaptures that happiness in a brilliant display of white blossoms studded like stars on to the smoother blue void of the sky. Even so, the blooms are sporadic and spaced apart, the branches of the tree green with lichen and moss. The spring is here but you can feel his pain and sadness among the new buds. Jonathan Jones

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