Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
stand that one may make a poem by arranging colors... In a similar manner, the bizarre
lines, purposely selected and multiplied, meandering all through the picture may not
presentaliteralimageofthegarden,buttheymaypresentittoourmindsasifinadream.”
Vincent never made real friends, though he desperately wanted to. The son of disin-
terested parents, he never found the social skills necessary to sustain close friendships. He
palled around with (and painted) his mailman and a Foreign Legionnaire. (The fact that
locals pronounced his name “vahn-saw van gog” had nothing to do with his psychological
struggles here.)
Packing his paints and a picnic in a rucksack, he day-tripped to the old Roman
cemeteryof
Les Alyscamps,
a10-minutedetourfromthisroute(acrossthebusystreet
and to the left).
• Continue through the gardens walking toward the arches of the Classical Theater and
exit the park at the upper-right corner. Turn right on Rue du Cloître, then turn left on Rue
de la Calade and stroll downhill for several blocks. Turn right on Rue du Palais to find
Place du Forum;
locate an easel one café down from the yellow Café la Nuit.
Café at Night
Easel:
InOctober,lonely Vincent—who dreamed ofmaking 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
priciestpaintings),knowingthatGauguinhadadmiredasimilarpaintinghe'ddoneinPar-
is. Their plan was for Gauguin to be the “dean” of a new art school in Arles, and Vincent
its instructor-in-chief. At first, the two got along well. They spent days side by side, ren-
dering the same subject in their two distinct styles. At night they hit the bars and brothels.
Van Gogh's well-known
Café at Night
captures the glow of an absinthe buzz at Café la
Nuit on Place du Forum.
Aftertwomonthstogether,thetwoartistsclashedoverartandpersonalitydifferences
(Vincent was a slob around the house, whereas Gauguin was meticulous). The night of
December 23, they were drinking absinthe at the café when Vincent suddenly went bal-
listic. He threw his glass at Gauguin. Gauguin left. Walking through Place Victor Hugo,
Gauguin heard footsteps behind him and turned to see Vincent coming at him, brandish-
ing a razor. Gauguin quickly fled town. The local paper reported what happened next: “At
11:30 p.m., Vincent Vaugogh
[sic],
painter from Holland, appeared at the brothel at no. 1,
asked for Rachel, and gave her his cut-off earlobe, saying, 'Treasure this precious object.'
Then he vanished.” He woke up the next morning at home with his head wrapped in a
bloodytowelandhisearlobemissing.WasVincentemulatingasuccessfulmatador,whose
prize is cutting off the bull's ear?
• From here retrace your steps and walk into Place de la République, turn right in the
square's far corner (Rue de la République), and walk to the Arlaten Folk Museum. Turn
