Van Gogh's Bedroom in Arles – (Vincent Van Gogh) ◄ Previous Next ►

Artist: Vincent Van Gogh

Style: Post-Impressionism

Topic: France

Museum: Musée d'Orsay (Paris, France)

Technique: Oil

Van Gogh created three almost identical paintings on the theme of his bedroom. The first, in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, was executed in October 1888 and was damaged in a flood that occurred while the artist was in hospital in Arles. Almost a year later, Van Gogh made two copies of it: one, the same size, is now in the Art Institute in Chicago; the other, in the Musée d'Orsay, made for his family in Holland, is smaller. In a letter to his brother Theo, Vincent explained what prompted him to paint such a picture: he wanted to express the calm and emphasize the simplicity of his bedroom through the symbolism of colors. So he described: “pale lilac walls, uneven, faded red floor, chrome yellow chairs and bed, very pale lime green pillows and sheet, blood red blanket, orange wash. a stand, a blue wash basin and a green window", stating that "I wanted to express absolute calm with these different colours”. Through these various colors, Van Gogh refers to Japan, to its crepe paper and engravings. He explained: "The Japanese lived in very simple interiors, and what great artists lived in that country." And although in the eyes of the Japanese, a bedroom decorated with paintings and furniture would not seem very simple, for Vincent it was "an empty bedroom with a wooden bed and two chairs." Still, it achieves a certain sparseness through its composition, which consists almost entirely of straight lines, and through a strict combination of colored surfaces that compensate for the instability of perspective. The painting "Van Gogh's Bedroom in Arles", located in Paris at the Musée d'Orsay, was painted in 1889 in oil on canvas and measures: height - 57.3 cm, width - 73.5 cm, with frame: height - 74.5 cm, width - 90.7 cm.