The story of
Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin -
their admiration for each other's work,
their friendship and rivalry and their
brief period of collaboration in Arles
is one of the most dramatic
in the history of modern art.
In late summer, 1888,
Van Gogh was overjoyed to have his friend
Gauguin come and stay with him
fulfilling his dream for the Studio of the
South; " The Yellow House"
where they would have other artists
together as a society, or colony.
In his excitement and anticipation
of the arrival of his friend; Gauguin,
Van Gogh decorated the Yellow House,
including creating and hanging his first truly
impressionistic rendition of the sunflower,
Eventually Van Gogh made several
other sunflowers in this period.
. Everyone still remembers how Van Gogh
cut a piece off his ear after a fierce quarrel
with Gauguin. Their stormy lives forever established the image of the possessed
artist, who gives up everything for the
sake of his work. Each in his own way
was a founder of modern art.
"Cafe Van Gogh" of Presssent
van Gogh and Gauguin
exchanged self-portraits
that revealed a great
deal about how they perceived themselves
and wished to be seen
by others.
Please put your
mouse on
their self-portraits!
Portrait of Van Gogh painting sunflowers, 1888
by Gauguin
Gauguin presented himself as an "outlaw"
in his self-portrait, which specifically
alludes to the noble character of Jean Valjean
in Victor Hugo's novel "Les Miserables".
The bold lines of the figure and the vivid
colors of the flowered wallpaper of
the Yellow House, with a picture of Bernard,
who was another artist in the backgroun,
not Gogh.manifest Gauguin’s interest
in "an abstract" symbolic style.
In van Gogh’s austere portrait, his gaunt face,
short hair, and beard allude to his belief
in a monastic lifestyle and refer to his role
as a monk (bonze) or humble disciple to Gauguin.
a brilliantgreen background, and has a
"japanese ukiyoe" feel,
according to his own description.
Gauguin left from Arles and
Gogh is taken to hospital under
the care of Psychratrist.
He was presumably suffering
from the symptoms of an
heriditary epileptic illness
On 27 July 1890 Gogh walks into a
cornfield and shoots himself
in the chest. 。
In the meantime,
Lonely, poor and ill, Gauguin died
ln Tahiti on 8 May 1903.
Gauguin never forgot his sojourn
in Arles is clear in the exhibition
from the still lifes of sunflowers
Yellow House'
Cafe Terrace at Night
