Van Gogh in Arles
the first thing you’ll notice about ARL is just how darn pretty it is sunny yellow buildings with bright blue shutters perky pink flowers and cute little cafes where whing away in afternoon without your cell phone is the dreamiest of experiences it’s no surprise that one of the most famous artists in history was inspired [Music] here Vincent van moved from Paris to pance in 1888 for the light and the color he lived here in ARL for only 2 years but in that short period of time he painted dozens of Landscapes still lives his Yellow House his yellow bedroom with that wonderfully wonky perspective his friends including the postman and those iconic sunflowers and the wonderful thing is that today you can walk along the van go route with little plaques marking the exact spots where he painted those famous works this scene you probably recognize it is of course the inspiration for Van Go’s Cafe Terrace at night with those beautiful bright yellows that kind of lit up the night and then complimented by his beautiful night skies with those gorgeous little swirly Stars the same type that he used in the star night but even though Cafe Terrace at night is of course set at night van go never used any black in his night sky that is because he believed that the night was more alive and color-filled than the day something you may not know about this fascinating painting is that inside the cafe in the painting there are exactly 12 people and the one person in the center is a little bit taller than the rest and has long hair and behind that Center person is a window with the window pane almost looking like a cross so some art historians believe that this painting is actually inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s the Last Supper it’s an interesting Theory while the composition isn’t the same between the two paintings the figures could be you can see those 12 figures surrounding a 13th figure in the center standing taller than the rest with that window in the back that could be interpreted as a cross next from a cafe Terrace at night to those iconic Starry stars at night we mosy from the city squares over to the rone river for the inspiration of one of Van Go’s most famous paintings in 1889 van go stood here on plas laam Martin to paint one of his most famous works the star KN over the rone not to be confused with the starry KN which he painted a bit later van go chose the spot because he lived in his famous yellow house just a few minutes away and also because this was a really great spot to kind of work out his obsession and that Obsession of course was Light breaking through the darkness of night and from this spot he could see light from two different sources one Nature Made and one man-made let’s talk about the man-made one first if you can see that bridge over my shoulder here in 1889 for the first time we had this crazy invention called gas lighting and there were gas Street lamps all along the bridge and also all along the walkway here along the river bend so he kind of played with that light as it reflected on the water that second source that he’s really famous for were those swirly twirly wonderful Stars up in the night sky so he took those stars made them bright bright yellow and reflected those on the water as well soon after he painted this painting as we know he entered a mental Asylum but there is hope to be found in this particular work of art in the bottom corner right here along the River’s Edge we see a happy couple well at least we think they’re happy and of course happiness was something that eluded poor van go as he will be forever known as the quintessential tortured artist which brings us to our last painting location a garden in the courtyard of a hospital we all know the story van go the tortured artist The Mad genius cut off his ear in a fit of passion now whether it was the entire ear or the tip of the ear or his ear lobe we do know he wasn’t just trying to pierce his ear for an earring we also don’t know the reason why he did this and the theories are all over the place everything from getting into an argument with his fellow artist Paul goang or being really upset that his brother Theo was getting married or perhaps everyone’s favorite that he actually cut it off to give as a gift I know totally gross to his girlfriend or to a prostitute what we do know is that this was the hotel where he received treatment lotel de now while he was recovering he still continued to paint still obsessed with the beauty of the light and all those yellows and the Sunshine here of beautiful ARL and this was the garden that he painted in the courtyard called L and in honor of Van go to this day the garden is kept just as it was when he was here after van go checks out of the hospital he eventually leaves our and goes to nearby St Remy where he checks in to a mental hospital it was there that he created his famous cypresses his famous irises and his most famous work Starry Night with those signature swirling skies and Moody atmosphere interpretations of this work have been everything from life and death to Simply hope
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