Vincent van Gogh lived in Arles (South of France) from 20
February 1888 until 8 May 1889. During these 444 jours he produced around 200
paintings, 100 drawing and watercolours. This is an incredibly intense production,
considering the size of some of the paintings.
He also wrote more than 200 letters during his stay in
Arles. Here is his first impression of Arles in a letter to his brother Theo datedTuesday 21 February 1888:
“I saw some magnificent red land planted with vines and
mountains of the finest lilac at the back. And landscapes under the snow with
white peaks against a sky that was as bright as the snow were much like winter
landscapes the Japanese did.”
I found multiple references to van Gogh while visiting
Arles.
The van Gogh Pharmacy
Van Gogh monument in Le jardin d’été (The summer garden)
We also visited the Fondation Vincent van Gogh Arles that opened
its doors to the public on 7th April 2014, with a first exhibition titled
"Van Gogh live!" (7 avril – 31 août 2014).
The museum was very well conceived, blending modern
additions to The Hôtel Léautaud de Donines, an old mansion house built in the
fifteenth century. The exhibition space is generous and receives good light.
From the terrace of the museum, you can enjoy a good view of
Arles rooftops.
Arles rooftops from the Fondation’s terrace
Raphael Hefti’s glass installation from the terrace
The exhibition shows around 10 oil paintings by Van Gogh,
some from the early days (when he still used a brown palette) and some
beautiful later paintings done in Arles or its region, on loan from the van
Gogh museum in Amsterdam.
2.jpeg)
The Yellow House – Oil on canvas (76 cm /29.9 in x 94 cm / 37
in) by Vincent van Gogh. [Source: Wikimedia]
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The Zouave oil on canvas (65 x 54 cm) by Vincent van Gogh [Source:
Wikimedia]
View of Saintes-Maries - Oil on canvas (53 x 64 cm) by
Vincent van Gogh [Source: WikiArt]
The exhibition also featured paintings from artists that
influenced van Gogh (Daubigny, Courbet, and Gauguin for instance) and a series
of Japanese prints — the same that van Gogh owned, including some very nice prints
by Hiroshige. Van Gogh, like Monet,
was fond of Japanese prints and has been influenced by them (The Van Gogh
Museum in Amsterdam houses a unique collection of almost 500 Japanese prints, most
of them collected by Vincent and Theo van Gogh).
The exhibition also shows works by contemporary artists
inspired by the work of van Gogh.
The Fondation
The Fondation
Vincent van Gogh Arles
35 ter rue du
Docteur Fanton - 13200 ARLES - France
Related resources
- Paintings done in Arles by van Gogh in the permanent collections of the van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.
- Letters written by van Gogh from Arles.
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