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“Martin Bailey has written some of the most interesting books on Vincent’s life in France, where he produced his greatest work” – Johan van Gogh, grandson of Theo, the artist’s brother
Studio of the South tells the story of Van Gogh’s stay in Arles, when his powers were at their height.
For Van Gogh, the south of France was an exciting new land, bursting with life. He walked into the hills inspired by the landscapes, and painted harvest scenes in the heat of summer. He visited a fishing village where he saw the Mediterranean for the first time, energetically capturing it in paint. He painted portraits of friends and locals, and flower still life paintings, culminating in the now iconic Sunflowers. He rented the Yellow House, and gradually did it up, calling it ‘an artist’s house’, inviting Paul Gauguin to join him there. This encounter was to have a profound impact on both of the artists. They painted side by side, their collaboration coming to a dramatic end a few months later. The difficulties Van Gogh faced led to his eventual decision to retreat to the asylum at Saint-Remy.
Based on extensive original research, the book reveals discoveries that throw new light on the legendary artist and give a definitive account of his fifteen months in Provence, including his time at the Yellow House, his collaboration with Gauguin and its tragic and shocking ending.
From the Publisher
Studio of the South tells the story of Van Gogh’s stay in Arles, when his powers were at their height…
Van Gogh’s home and studio was the Yellow House, which he rented two months after his arrival in Arles. It provided his own personal space to sleep and paint – a welcome change from a cramped hotel room. Van Gogh immediately dreamed of sharing his new home with a fellow artist from Paris. Life would be cheaper, but more importantly it would be stimulating to live and work with a companion. He described it as the ‘studio in the south’. Vincent first used this expression in a letter to his brother Theo. Asking for money to buy beds and other furniture, he exclaimed: ‘How I’d like to set myself up so that I could have a home of my own!’ Once furnished, ‘we’d have a studio in the south where we could put someone up’. He regarded his beloved Yellow House as not simply a physical space, but a ‘living studio’.
The Yellow House, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
DISCOVERING ARLES
Van Gogh arrived in Provence at an extraordinary moment. Having taken the overnight train from Paris he awoke on the morning of 20 February 1888 to find the countryside blanketed with snow, although Arles normally enjoys mild Mediterranean winters. He described the scene to Theo: ‘The landscape under the snow with the white peaks against a sky as bright as the snow was just like the winter landscapes the Japanese did.’ The white hills were the Alpilles (the Little Alps), a chain with craggy peaks which begins just north of Arles – and which would soon appear in the background of many of his landscapes. A local newspaper reported that the snow was 45 centimetres deep, ‘enormous for the land of the sun’.
Arles seen from the Wheatfields, Musée Rodin, Paris
THE RHÔNE AND ITS CANALS
Langlois Bridge with Washerwomen, Kröller- Müller Museum, Otterlo
Langlois Bridge with Washerwomen was completed in mid-March 1888, just three weeks after Vincent’s arrival. Writing to Theo, he described it as ‘a drawbridge, with a little carriage going across it, outlined against a blue sky – the river blue as well, the banks orange with greenery, a group of washerwomen wearing blouses and multicoloured bonnets’.
Quay with Sand Barges, August 1888, oil on canvas, 55 x 65 cm, Folkwang Museum, Essen (F449)
Van Gogh later painted a similar scene, Quay with Sand Barges, this time with part of the embankment. His striking perspective omits the sky. He described the scene: ‘Boats seen from a quay, from above; the two boats are a purplish pink, the water is very green, no sky, a tricolour flag on the mast. A workman with a wheelbarrow is unloading sand.’
Trinquetaille Bridge, October 1888, oil on canvas, 74 x 93 cm, private collection
On the other side of the Rhône lay the small town of Trinquetaille, which in 1875 had been linked to Arles by a bridge. Van Gogh painted Trinquetaille Bridge from the Arles side. Selecting a dramatic viewpoint, he looked up the wide steps heading from the street to the embankment and then up to the bridge itself. A sprinkling of pedestrians add scale and movement. The cylindrical object behind the small tree is probably a pissoire.
More from Martin Bailey
MARTIN BAILEY is a leading specialist on Van Gogh and an arts journalist. He is a London-based correspondent for The Art Newspaper. Bailey has curated several exhibitions on Van Gogh including one at Tate Britain in 2019. His most recent books include:
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Van Gogh at the Asylum The Story of Van Gogh’s Masterpiece The homes and landscapes that shaped the artist Van Gogh in Provence Auvers and the artist’s rise to fame
Publisher : Frances Lincoln; Reprint edition (July 6, 2021)
Language : English
Paperback : 224 pages
ISBN-10 : 0711268185
ISBN-13 : 978-0711268180
Item Weight : 1.75 pounds
Dimensions : 7.65 x 0.85 x 10.5 inches
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