Fresh from our Italian contributors, Monia & Nicola:
We travelled around
Europe following Vincent van Gogh’s masterpieces among the jungle of museum in
which they are displayed. Why not to follow the steps of his crazy life by
looking for some of the sights that inspired his masterpieces?
So let’s go to Provence!
We jumped into the south
of France with our old blue Punto to see some important places where Van Gogh
spent part of his life… mile after mile we understood why Provence had been the muse of such a genius mind: the bright light, the variety of colors and the beautiful
countryside inspired him to paint an endless sequence of artwork, about 200
hundred paintings in only 2 years.
We started from Arles.
The yellow house, which
is the subject of one his famous paintings, unfortunately does not exist anymore. This building, in which he lived and set up his studio (Gauguin spent two months here, in which the two artists lived and painted together), was
bombed during WWII and today a boulangerie stands in its place in Place
Lamartine. A good baguette break!
Walking trough Arles
it’s possible to visit a reconstruction of Van Gogh’s bedroom, the one he depicted
several times. It is quite a touristic reproduction of the furniture and colors
of the painting, but doesn’t express the feelings of the artist. However it’s
an inexpensive ticket and nice to see.
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| Reconstruction of Van Gogh's bedroom in Arles, France |
For people who want to
breath Van Gogh atmosphere, while eating some local food, the best place is Café
Van Gogh on Place de Forum. Do you remember the yellow bright light of the
painting Le terrace du Cafè, la Nuit? That’s it! The Café was recently restored
to make it as similar as possible to that depicted by Van Gogh in 1888.
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| The Cafe Terrace on the Place de Forum in Arles, at night |
A few miles south
of Arles, we reached, very late at night, the famous bridge that Van Gogh liked
for its Japanese look: Pont du Langlois. This bridge is however not the one
painted by the artist. Nor is it on its original site. Today we only see an
identical specimen, a wooden drawbridge replaced in a landscape similar to the
one seen by Van Gogh, a few kilometers downstream from the original site.
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| Langlois Bridge a few miles south of Arles |
Saint Remy de Provence
A nice day can be spent in Saint Rémy de Provence, not far from Arles, where the asylum of Saint
Paul de Mausole is located. Here, Van Gogh committed himself after he cut off
his ear at the beginning of his madness.
From the window of his
room you can imagine him contemplating the garden of the clinic, lavander
fields and olive trees, which continues the view farther until the mountains.
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| Asylum in St. Remy, where Van Gogh committed himself |
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| View from the clinic, olive trees and mountains |
You can also walk the “Promenade dans l’univers de Vincent van Gogh” marked by reproductions of his artworks on easels placed exactly where the artist had his visions.
He wrote in one of his letters: ”I don’t know whether you can understand that one may make a poem only by arranging colors…”
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| Promenade dans l'univers de Vincent van Gogh - Painting locations |
Even if most of the historic
sites where Van Gogh resided during his lifetime have been destroyed by WWII, the beauty of the nature which inspired his art is still alive. Laying on
the ground you can try to understand Van Gogh's emotions as you see the same night sky that moved him to paint his
masterpiece The Starry Night.
We suggest this
trip if you are going to visit France and if you like to experience firsthand
the inspiring world behind a genius of expression!
