If you’re a Vincent van Gogh fan, a trip to Arles, a thriving Provencal city in southern France, offers you a chance to follow in the artist’s footsteps. Arles, where van Gogh cranked out a masterpiece every few days, is understandably proud of its troubled and brilliant one-time resident.
None of the 200-plus paintings van Gogh did in Provence can be found today in the city that so moved him. But you can walk the same streets he knew and see the sights that he painted, marked by 17 steel-and-concrete “easels,” with photos of the final painting for then-and-now comparison.
Hoping to jump-start his foundering career, the 35-year-old Dutch artist came to Provence from big-city Paris. Van Gogh was inspired by what he found: sun, bright colors, rugged landscape and unspoiled people. Here, he created some of his most well-known paintings before his ultimate slide into madness.
In Arles, van Gogh rented a small house with four rooms, including a small studio and the cramped, trapezoid-shaped bedroom made famous in paintings. It was eventually destroyed by an errant, bridge-seeking bomb during World War II, but today, you can see the similar four-story building behind it, which still stands.
Donning his straw hat, Vincent set up his easel outdoors and painted quickly, capturing what he saw and felt. (In those days, a short walk away from town led to open fields.) He studied the blossoming fruit trees and gnarled olive trees. He watched the peasants sowing and reaping in wind-blown fields. The brilliant sun, characteristic of Provence, drove him to use ever-brighter paints to capture the vibrant colors.
Fueled by sun and alcohol, Vincent painted the town. He loved the bullfights in Arles’ Roman Arena (where 2,000 years ago, gladiators fought wild animals to the delight of 20,000 screaming fans). He sketched the colorful surge of the crowds.
Lonely Vincent, who dreamed of making Arles a magnet for fellow artists, persuaded his friend Paul Gauguin to come. He decorated Gauguin’s room with several humble canvases of “Sunflowers” (now some of the world’s priciest artwork), knowing that Gauguin had admired a similar painting he’d done in Paris.
After months of getting along well, working side by side, the two artists’ personalities clashed. They were drinking absinthe at the cafe when Vincent suddenly went ballistic. That night, he brandished a razor at his former friend, and committed the act he would become notorious for. He woke up the next morning at home with his head wrapped in a bloody towel, and his earlobe sliced off.
Vincent was checked into the local hospital, today’s Espace Van Gogh cultural center. It surrounds a courtyard garden that the artist loved and painted during his month here, while he was treated for blood loss, hallucinations and severe depression. It’s free to enter the Espace, where you can walk around its public courtyard. In a nearby St. Remy hospital (where you can visit his room), Vincent went on to produce more than 100 paintings before his eventual suicide.
At Arles’ Fondation Van Gogh, a small gallery features works by contemporary artists. They honor Vincent through thought-provoking interpretations of his works, with black-and-white photographs (both art and shots of places Vincent worked) that complement the paintings (www.fondationvangogh-arles.org).
The days when local citizens circulated a petition demanding the mad Dutchman be kept under medical supervision are long past. Arles welcomes van Gogh fans with a blend of sights that show you the city through the artist’s own eyes. After a moonlit evening in the heart of Provence, you may find yourself, like Vincent, inspired by a starry, starry night in Arles.
Rick Steves of Edmonds (425-771-8303, www.ricksteves.com) is the author of 30 European travel guidebooks, including “Europe Through the Back Door.” He hosts a new public radio show, “Travel with Rick Steves” (Saturdays at 2 p.m. on KUOW 94.9 FM) and the public television series “Rick Steves’ Europe” (most weeknights at 7 p.m. on KCTS). This week’s schedule:
Tuesday: Northern England
Wednesday: London and Beyond
Thursday: Paris and Beyond
Friday: Alsace and the Champagne Country
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