Vincent van Gogh is remembered as one of the most extraordinary artists who ever lived, his paintings are world-famous and his tragic story is unforgettable. He is a pivotal figure in the art of the 20th century. His oeuvre continues to influence artists and exert an unprecedented magnetism upon the public right up to the present.
In a letter Vincent wrote during his years in the French capital we can find the following excerpt:
“ There is but one Paris and however hard living may be here, and if it became worse and harder even-the French air clears up the brain and does good-a world of good.”
Although he was born in the Netherlands, his time in France is the most renowned, as it is both when he reached the height of his career and when he experienced the notorious mental breakdown that brought the end of his life.
Inaugurated in 2010, the “Vincent van Gogh Paris Museum” pays due homage to the life and work of Van Gogh during his years in France while at the same time exploring his impact upon contemporary art and modern French culture.
From June 1, 1885 to February 19, 1888, Vincent van Gogh lived with his brother Théo in an apartment at 54 rue Lepic on the prestigious 4th floor of the building. After three months of sharing a cramped apartment at 25 Rue Victor Massé (formerly Rue Laval) their new appartment was quite spacious. Vincent had his own studio, a room at the back with a small window. He slept in a small room known as the cabinet. At the front of the flat were Theo's room and the living room. With herringbone wood floors, indoor plumbing and a gas burner on a table or kitchen, the brothers also had a room to display works in.
The walls must have eventually become covered with paintings by Vincent and others; the brothers collected works by other artists, which they bought or received in exchange for Vincent’s. A dealer of art, Pontier, lived below Vincent and Théo and together they laid plans on Rue Lepic to get to the top of the art world in Paris, Vincent with brush, palette and canvas and Theo with his discerning eye for the new art of the impressionists and an insightful dealer’s mind. In 2003 the French government acquired ownership of the building at 54 rue Lepic. After extensive renovation works in the interior, the building since 2010 houses the “Vincent van Gogh Paris Museum”.
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View of Paris from Vincent's Room in the Rue Lepic”, Oil on canvas,Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam.
The appartment on rue Lepic, has a beautiful view of the Paris skyline, a view out the window which Vincent composed several times in the first weeks of moving in. Two of Vincent’s Paris vista paintings were made in the Spring of 1887, after about a year in the apartment/studio with this work having more greens and yellows, oranges and reds than anything Vincent produced 6 months or more earlier in his evolution. He uses short, gently impressionist strokes of blue, white and yellow for a sky and pointillist influenced strokes for building walls and portions of rooftops.
A second painting “View of Paris from Vincent’s Room” was created with more blues as Vincent experimented with the use of his broadened color palette as influenced by the impressionists. Compairing these two paintigs, we can see how Vincent selected different colors and perspective in painting the same scene. The result is a cooler or warmer effect as a result of his color selection and the changed perspective.
“View from Vincent's Window”, Private collection