Bedroom in Arles
Encyclopedia
Bedroom in Arles is the title given to each of three similar paintings by 19th-century Dutch
Post-Impressionist painter
Vincent van Gogh
.
Van Gogh's own title for this composition was simply The Bedroom (French: La Chambre à coucher). There are three authentic versions described in his letters, easily discernible from one another by the pictures on the wall to the right.
The painting depicts Van Gogh's bedroom at 2, Place Lamartine in Arles
, Bouches-du-Rhône
, France
, known as his Yellow House
. The door to the right was opening to the upper floor and the staircase, the door to the left served the guest room he held prepared for Gauguin
. The window in the front wall was looking to Place Lamartine and its public gardens.
This room was not rectangular, but trapezoid, with an obtuse angle in the left hand corner of the front wall and an acute angle at the right. Van Gogh evidently did not spend much time on this problem, he simply indicated that there was a corner, somehow.
:
Van Gogh included sketches of the composition in this letter as well as in a letter to Gauguin, written slightly later. This version has on the wall to the right miniatures of Van Gogh's portraits of his friends Eugène Boch
and Paul-Eugène Milliet.
The portrait of Eugène Boch is called The Poet and the portrait of Paul Eugène Millet is called The Lover.
. Theo proposed to have it relined and sent back to him in order to copy it. This "repetition" in original scale (Van Gogh's term was "répetition") was executed in September 1889. Both paintings were then sent back to Theo.
In The Bedroom the miniature portrait to the left recalls Van Gogh's "Peasant of Zundert"-Selfportrait
. The one to the right cannot be linked convincingly to any existing painting by Van Gogh.
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
Post-Impressionist painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh , and used Brabant dialect in his writing; it is therefore likely that he himself pronounced his name with a Brabant accent: , with a voiced V and palatalized G and gh. In France, where much of his work was produced, it is...
.
Van Gogh's own title for this composition was simply The Bedroom (French: La Chambre à coucher). There are three authentic versions described in his letters, easily discernible from one another by the pictures on the wall to the right.
The painting depicts Van Gogh's bedroom at 2, Place Lamartine in Arles
Arles
Arles is a city and commune in the south of France, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, of which it is a subprefecture, in the former province of Provence....
, Bouches-du-Rhône
Bouches-du-Rhône
Bouches-du-Rhône is a department in the south of France named after the mouth of the Rhône River. It is the most populous department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Its INSEE and postal code is 13.-History of the department:...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, known as his Yellow House
Yellow House (Arles)
The Yellow House is the title generally given to an oil painting by the 19th-century Dutch Post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh.This title refers to the right wing of the building, 2, Place Lamartine, Arles, France, the house where, on May 1, 1888, Van Gogh rented four rooms, two large ones...
. The door to the right was opening to the upper floor and the staircase, the door to the left served the guest room he held prepared for Gauguin
Paul Gauguin
Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin was a leading French Post-Impressionist artist. He was an important figure in the Symbolist movement as a painter, sculptor, print-maker, ceramist, and writer...
. The window in the front wall was looking to Place Lamartine and its public gardens.
This room was not rectangular, but trapezoid, with an obtuse angle in the left hand corner of the front wall and an acute angle at the right. Van Gogh evidently did not spend much time on this problem, he simply indicated that there was a corner, somehow.
First version
Van Gogh started the first version during mid October 1888 while staying in Arles, and explained his aims and means to his brother TheoTheo van Gogh (art dealer)
Theodorus "Theo" van Gogh was a Dutch art dealer. He was the younger brother of Vincent van Gogh, and Theo's unfailing financial and emotional support allowed his brother to devote himself entirely to painting...
:
- This time it simply reproduces my bedroom; but colour must be abundant in this part, its simplification adding a rank of grandee to the style applied to the objects, getting to suggest a certain rest or dream. Well, I have thought that on watching the composition we stop thinking and imagining. I have painted the walls pale violet. The ground with checked material. The wooden bed and the chairs, yellow like fresh butter; the sheet and the pillows, lemon light green. The bedspread, scarlet coloured. The window, green. The washbasin, orangey; the tank, blue. The doors, lilac. And, that is all. There is not anything else in this room with closed shutters. The square pieces of furniture must express unswerving rest; also the portraits on the wall, the mirror, the bottle, and some costumes. The white colour has not been applied to the picture, so its frame will be white, aimed to get me even with the compulsory rest recommended for me. I have depicted no type of shade or shadow; I have only applied simple plain colours, like those in crêpes.
Van Gogh included sketches of the composition in this letter as well as in a letter to Gauguin, written slightly later. This version has on the wall to the right miniatures of Van Gogh's portraits of his friends Eugène Boch
Eugène Boch
Eugène Boch was a Belgian painter, born in Saint-Waast, Nord, Hainaut, and the younger brother of Anna Boch, a founding member of Les XX....
and Paul-Eugène Milliet.
The portrait of Eugène Boch is called The Poet and the portrait of Paul Eugène Millet is called The Lover.
Second version
In April 1889, Van Gogh sent the initial version to his brother regretting that it was damaged by the flood of the Rhône, while he was interned at the Old Hospital in ArlesHospital in Arles (Van Gogh series)
Hospital at Arles is the subject of two paintings that Vincent van Gogh made of the hospital in which he stayed in December 1888 and again in January 1889. The hospital is located in Arles in southern France...
. Theo proposed to have it relined and sent back to him in order to copy it. This "repetition" in original scale (Van Gogh's term was "répetition") was executed in September 1889. Both paintings were then sent back to Theo.
Third version
When Van Gogh finally, in summer 1889, decided to redo some of his "best" compositions in smaller size (the term he used was réductions) for his mother and sister Wil, The Bedroom was amongst the subjects he chose. These réductions, finished late in September 1889, are not exact copies.In The Bedroom the miniature portrait to the left recalls Van Gogh's "Peasant of Zundert"-Selfportrait
Self-Portraits by Vincent van Gogh
The dozens of self-portraits by Vincent van Gogh were an important part of his oeuvre as a painter. Vincent van Gogh created many self-portraits during his lifetime. Most probably, Van Gogh's self portraits are depicting the face as it appeared in the mirror he used to reproduce his face, i.e...
. The one to the right cannot be linked convincingly to any existing painting by Van Gogh.
Pedigrees
- The first version never left the artist's estate. Since 1962, it is in the possession of the Vincent van Gogh Foundation, established by Vincent Willem van Gogh, the artist's nephew, and on permanent loan to the Van Gogh MuseumVan Gogh MuseumThe Van Gogh Museum is an art museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands, featuring the works of the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh and his contemporaries. It has the largest collection of Van Gogh's paintings and drawings in the world.-Background:...
, Amsterdam. - The second version is since 1926 in the possession of the Art Institute of ChicagoArt Institute of ChicagoThe School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
. - The third version, formerly in the possession of Van Gogh's sister Wil and later acquired by Prince Matsukata, entered the French national collections in 1959, following the French-Japanese peace settlement, and is on permanent display in the Musée d'OrsayMusée d'OrsayThe Musée d'Orsay is a museum in Paris, France, on the left bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, an impressive Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1915, including paintings, sculptures, furniture,...
, ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
External links
- The Bedroom
- The Vincent van Gogh Gallery a reliable source, but evidently only the CD-ROM version supplies full information on dating and provenance
- Restoration completed on Van Gogh's Bedroom in Arles, Yahoo news, 2 September, 2010
- The Bedroom on Google Art Project