When Vincent Painted The Town Red

Trailing Van Gogh in the Historic French City of Arles

- Debashree Majumdar

If you weren’t seeking it, you’d probably miss it. That’s how unassumingly Arles sits on the Provencal tourist map. But if you do set out to explore this sleepy French city, you’ll see why it once dazzled Vincent van Gogh. The hotbed of Camarguais culture cradling river Rhone, Arles holds within its ageing walls Roman ruins and leafy squares. Its pastel-hued stone dwellings have, in particular, found immortality in van Gogh’s works. The Dutch artist lived here for a few months in the 1880s and produced about 200 paintings, 100 drawings and nearly as many letters.

Despite being the wellspring to many van Gogh classics, strangely enough Arles doesn’t own any of them. The Fondation Vincent van Gogh Arles gallery, however, regularly displays works on loan from Amsterdam. But for those whose hearts lie in the swathes of open fields and fresh air, ditch the gallery tour and trace van Gogh’s footsteps instead, taking in the rush of colours and the bountiful landscape that once inspired the post-impressionist artist. From his home, “The Yellow House”, which was destroyed in World War II to spots from whose vantage points he unleashed those masterly strokes, guided tours here hold up Arles through van Gogh’s looking glass. The trail—dotted with concrete easels displaying photos of his paintings juxtaposed against the same backdrops as in the artworks— makes for delightful then-and-now comparisons.

Following the tip-off one fine April morning, battling the violent Provencal mistral, my husband and I set out on an exploration of the present day forms of van Gogh’s historic muses. Here’s a look at five of his iconic paintings committed to canvas centuries ago, and how the passage of time has transformed these scenes in today’s Arles.

STARRY NIGHT OVER THE RHONE