leisure ART Arles Tracing Vincent van Gogh’s footsteps ‘The Starry Night’, ‘Cafe Terrace at Night’, ‘Bedroom in Arles’ – all invoke just one name whose artistic genius is unparalleled, Vincent van Gogh. Follow the artist’s footsteps across the lavender fields of Provence, and get just as inspired as van Gogh himself in this walking tour in Arles. words // Punita Malhotra Vistara | 68 | Feb 2020 leisure ART way from the high- and accomplished artists, even can aspire for richer rewards. They heeled sophistication legends like Cézanne, Picasso can venture beyond the hushed, A of Paris and the and most importantly, Vincent hallowed galleries into the sunny, intoxicating vineyard van Gogh. cheerful pastures of Provence, vistas of Burgundy, lies another where van Gogh once found his France…rural, rustic, real. Where FOR THE LOVE OF ARLES calling. To visualise the straw ‘pinch-me-is-it-a-dream’ villages Ironically, art buffs and critics alike, hat-clad Dutch painter, setting up overlook fragrance-filled lavender now swear by the genius of the his easel in the midst of Provençal fields and plain tree-lined roads post-impressionist legend, who landscape, furiously creating wind through carpets of vibrant, never sold a painting in his life. one bright and bold canvas after happy sunflowers. Where the lush Curiosity-stricken hordes gawk another, narrating his personal countryside flaunts abundance of endlessly over some of his most pain through the story of the wheat, vegetables, fruits, herbs, admired canvases housed in the changing seasons in his inimitable olives and truffle under brilliantly Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, style, is a surreal experience. All his blue skies. For centuries, the the MoMA and the Met in New favourite subjects…blossoming precious paradise of Provence has York. But, the more serious art flowers, sowing-reaping peasants been an inspiration for amateur aficionados, on the other hand, and windswept fields…have The serious art aficionados venture into the sunny, cheerful pastures of Provence, where Vincent van Gogh once found his calling. Vistara | 70 | Feb 2020 a permanent home here. The Western Roman Empire port captured flawlessly in ‘The Arena at ultimate art fantasy comes to life and link to the Mediterranean. Arles’, thanks to the unique jittery in the ancient Roman town of From the ancient Roman ruins technique that he perfected with Arles, where van Gogh lived and of Alyscamps Necropolis, where the influence of his close friend crafted over 300 passion-filled van Gogh painted four scenes and contemporary, Paul Gauguin. pieces within just 18 months. Ten in 1888, and the bright green steel-and-concrete easels mark the grass of its urban park Jardin The most-wanted in all of Arles is locations, coinciding with some d’Eté, to Rue Voltaire’s lively the easel with a painting of ‘The of his most famous paintings, for awning-draped stone buildings, Yellow House’, planted where those who prefer to wander around and the bridges of Trinquetaille van Gogh’s home once stood. freely in a self-guided tour. It’s a and Langlois, every bit of Arles The sunflower-yellow painted, wonderful walk in the footsteps is an open art gallery. But some sun-drenched Provençal building of van Gogh, breathing the same pitstops are almost obligatory, has long gone, but its eternal French countryside air he did. like the grand three-tiered Roman spirit lives on. After all, this was amphitheatre. where one of the world’s most CANVAS COUNTDOWN famous artists challenged his Quintessentially Roman elements Standing inside the Arles limits with masterpieces like ‘Café are scattered everywhere. The Colosseum, one marvels at the Terrace at Night’, ‘Sunflowers’ and theatre, baths, aqueducts, sports architectural prowess of the ‘The Sower’. arenas are all reminders of the Romans, who built it 2000 years lovingly preserved heritage of before van Gogh’s time. Its beauty The quiet riverside quay is a far cry a town which was once a vital with its wild emotions has been from its buzzing ancient version, ESSENTIALS COUNTRY LANGUAGE CURRENCY TEMPERATURE France French Euro 30°C (max), 15°C (min) Vistara | 72 | Feb 2020 leisure ART Did you KNOW? THE LETTERS OF VINCENT VAN GOGH Looking for a deeper insight into the artist’s private life? A collection of letters exchanged between Van Gogh and his brother Theo, sister Wil, and when the Rhone was the centre dark night as it did then. inspiring, because he left fellow artists Paul Gauguin, of commerce for the thriving And finally, one can visit the behind a legacy of 146 oil Anthon van Rappard and Emile Roman empire. But it still looks location of the ‘Courtyard of paintings and 150 drawings Bernard, is the answer to it. like how van Gogh would have the Hospital at Arles’, where here, including notables like The Letters of Vincent van Gogh seen it, calm and soothing. It he was treated for a partially ‘Wheat Fields’, ‘Bedroom’ is a collection of 903 surviving is fascinating to analyse how severed ear, which he himself and his star creation, ‘Starry letters, out of which 820 were he exaggerated the scene in cut off after a tense episode Night’. Copies of his art written by van Gogh and 83 his depiction, ‘Starry Night with his friend Gauguin. The pieces are displayed on easels were received. Published by Theo’s widow Johanna van Over the Rhone’. The explosion copy of his painting displayed everywhere…in his austere Gogh-Bonger, these letters of Prussian, ultramarine and in the courtyard captures the bedroom, in the open fields, are both a study of the artist’s cobalt blues, highlighted with scene exactly, even today… near the gnarled olive trees, personal life and works of deep orange-yellows of the gas flower bunches, shady trees, close to the famous blue literature. lights reflecting in the water, pillared corridor et al. irises and flowering trees, seems more than justified. and beside the tall cypresses. TOWARDS FULL CLOSURE The distinctive, swirling His other memorable creation, Satiety comes with closure brushwork and dense colours ‘Café Terrace at Night’ morphs at the nearby town of Saint- are, of course, a recurring into reality at the iconic Rémy, where van Gogh lived theme. One leaves the asylum You can fly to Paris Le Café van Gogh. Though its during his last traumatic with vivid imagery… an with Vistara’s not the original yellow cafe from year at the psychiatric unacknowledged genius in interline partners Air his painting, the resemblance institution of Saint Paul of his mid-thirties desperately France, Swiss Airlines, is remarkably close. Yellow in Mausole Monastery. But seeking respite and finding Emirates and Alitalia, and codeshare colour, illuminated from within, apparently, even in that state, fleeting peace in the uplifting partner Lufthansa. it stands in sharp contrast to the the ambience was no less Provençal light. Vistara | 74 | Feb 2020.