10 Most-Loved Paintings by Vincent van Gogh in Provence
These 10 favorite paintings by Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) reveal fascinating details about the artist's short and passionate life.
Self-portrait with Bandaged Ear, Easel and Japanese Print (Cropped), Oil on Canvas, 60 × 49 cm, Painted in Arles, France, January 1889. Courtauld Institute Galleries, London. Peter Barritt via Getty Images
He began late and died young. Yet, over a span of 10 years, Vincent van Gogh completed nearly 900 paintings and 1,100 sketches, lithographs, and other works. The troubled Dutch artist became obsessed with his subjects and returned to them again and again, painting near duplicates of sunflowers or cypress trees. With manic brushstrokes and dramatic flourishes of his palette knife, van Gogh carried Post-Impressionism into new realms. He received little recognition during his life, but now his work sells for millions and is reproduced on posters, t-shirts, and coffee mugs. Even a feature-length animated film celebrates van Gogh's compelling images. Which paintings by van Gogh are the most popular? Here, in chronological order, are 10 contenders.
"Vase With Fifteen Sunflowers," August 1888
Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers, Oil on Canvas, 93 x 73 cm, Painted in Arles, France, August 1888. The National Gallery, London. Dea / M. Carrieri / Getty Images
Van Gogh broke free from the dark palette of his Dutch-inspired art when he painted his explosively bright sunflower paintings. The first series, completed in 1887 while he lived in Paris, showed sunflower clippings laying on the ground. In 1888, van Gogh moved to a yellow house in Arles in southern France and began seven still lifes with vibrant sunflowers in vases. He applied the paint in heavy layers and broad strokes. Three of the paintings, including the one shown here, were done exclusively in yellow hues. 19th century innovations in paint chemistry expanded van Gogh's color palette to include a new shade of yellow known as chrome. Van Gogh hoped to establish a cooperative artist's community at the yellow house. He painted his Arles sunflower series to prepare the space for the arrival of painter Paul Gauguin. Gauguin called the paintings "a perfect example of the style that was completely Vincent.". "I feel the desire to renew myself," van Gogh wrote in 1890, "and to try to apologise for the fact that my pictures are after all almost a cry of anguish, although in the rustic sunflower they may symbolise gratitude."
"The Night Café," September 1888
The Night Café, Oil on Canvas, 72.4 x 92.1 cm, Painted in Arles, France, September 1888. Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut. VCG Wilson/Corbis via Getty Images
In early September 1888, van Gogh painted a scene he called "one of the ugliest pictures I have done." Violent reds and greens captured the gloomy interior of an all-night café on Place Lamartine in Arles. Sleeping during the day, van Gogh spent three nights in the café working on the painting. He chose the jarring effect of simultaneous contrast to express the "terrible passions of humanity." Oddly skewed perspective pitches the viewer into the canvas toward an abandoned pool table. Scattered chairs and slumped figures suggest utter desolation. The haloed lighting effects are reminiscent of van Gogh's "The Potato Eaters." Both paintings expressed a grim view of the world, and the artist described them as equivalents.
"Café Terrace at Night," September 1888
Café Terrace at Night, Oil on Canvas, 80.7 × 65.3 cm, Painted in Arles, France, September 1888. Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, The Netherlands. Francis G. Mayer/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images
"I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day," van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo. The artist's love affair with the night was partly philosophical and partly inspired by the technical challenge of creating light from darkness. His nocturnal landscapes express mysticism and a sense of the infinite. In mid-September 1888, van Gogh set up his easel outside a café at the Place du Forum in Arles and painted his first "starry night" scene. Rendered without black, "Café Terrace at Night" contrasts a brilliant yellow awning against a Persian-blue sky. The cobbled pavement suggests the luminous hues of a stained glass window. There's no doubt that the artist found spiritual solace in the nightscape. Some critics take the idea further, claiming that van Gogh incorporated crosses and other Christian symbols. According to researcher Jared Baxter, the 12 figures on the café terrace echo Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper" (1495-98). Travellers to Arles can visit the same café at Place du Forum.
"The Bedroom," October 1888
The Bedroom, Oil on Canvas, 72 x 90 cm, Painted in Arles, France, October 1888. The Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam. Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images
During his stay in Arles, van Gogh wrote in detail about the colors he found in his bedroom at Place Lamartine ("the yellow house"). In October 1888, he began a series of sketches and three oil paintings that showed nearly duplicate views of the room. The first painting (shown here) was the only one he completed while still in Arles. In September 1889, van Gogh painted the second version from memory while convalescing at the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum near Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France. A couple of weeks later, he painted a third, smaller version as a gift for his mother and sister. In each version, the colors grew slightly dimmer and the pictures on the wall over the bed were altered. Collectively, van Gogh's bedroom paintings rank among his most recognizable and most beloved works. In 2016, The Chicago Institute of Art built a replica inside an apartment in the City’s River North neighborhood.
"The Red Vineyards at Arles," November 1888
The Red Vineyards at Arles, Oil on Canvas, 75 × 93 cm, Painted in Arles, France, Early November 1888. Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow. Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images
Less than two months before severing his ear lobe during a major psychotic break, van Gogh painted the only work that officially sold during his lifetime. "The Red Vineyards at Arles" captured the vibrant color and shimmering light that washed through southern France in early November. Fellow artist Gauguin may have inspired the vibrant colors. However, the heavy layers of paint and energetic brush strokes were distinctively van Gogh. "The Red Vineyards" appeared in the 1890 exhibition of Les XX, an important Belgian art society. Impressionist painter and art collector Anna Boch purchased the painting for 400 Francs (about $1,000 in today's currency).
"The Starry Night," June 1889
The Starry Night, Oil on Canvas, 73.7 x 92.1 cm, Painted in Saint-Rémy, France, June 1889. Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art, New York. VCG Wilson/Corbis via Getty Images
Some of van Gogh's most loved paintings were completed during his year-long convalescence at the asylum in Saint-Rémy, France. Gazing through a barred window, he saw the pre-dawn countryside illuminated by enormous stars. The scene, he told his brother, inspired "The Starry Night." Van Gogh preferred to paint en plein air, but "The Starry Night" drew from memory and imagination. Van Gogh eliminated the window bars. He added a spiraling cypress tree and a steepled church. Although van Gogh painted many nocturnal scenes during his lifetime, "The Starry Night" became his most famous. "The Starry Night" has long been the center of artistic and scientific debate. Some mathematicians say that the swirling brushstrokes illustrate turbulent flow, a complex theory of fluid motion. Medical sleuths speculate that the saturated yellows suggest xanthopsia, a visual distortion brought on by the medication digitalis. Art lovers often say that the whirls of light and color mirror the artist's tortured mind. Today, "The Starry Night" is considered a masterpiece, but the artist wasn't pleased with his work. In a letter to Émile Bernard, van Gogh wrote, "once again I let myself go reaching for stars that are too big — a new failure — and I have had enough of it."
"Wheat Field with Cypresses at the Haute Galline Near Eygalieres," July 1889
Wheat Field with Cypresses at the Haute Galline Near Eygalieres, Oil on Canvas, 93.4 x 73 cm, Painted in Saint-Remy, France, July 1889. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. VCG Wilson/Corbis via Getty Images
The towering cypress trees that surrounded the asylum at Saint-Rémy became as important to van Gogh as sunflowers had been in Arles. With his characteristic bold impasto, the artist rendered the trees and surrounding landscape with dynamic swirls of color. The heavy layers of paint took on added texture from the asymmetrical weave of the toile ordinaire canvas that van Gogh ordered from Paris and used for most of his later works. Van Gogh believed that "Wheat Field with Cypresses" was one of his best summer landscapes. After painting the scene en plein-air, he painted two slightly more refined versions in his studio at the asylum.