Studio of the South: Van Gogh in Provence
by Martin Bailey
Buy on AmazonStudio of the South tells the story of Van Goghâ??s period in Arles in 1888â??9, when his powers were at their height. Based on original research, the book reveals discoveries that throw new light on the legendary artist and give a definitive account of his fifteen months spent in Arles, including his collaboration with Gauguin. Van Gogh headed to Arles believing that the landscape of Provence would have parallels with Japan, whose art he greatly admired. The south of France was an exciting new land, bursting with life. He loved walking the 5 kilometres up into the hills with the ruined abbey of Montmajour and in late spring he drew and painted over a dozen landscapes there.…
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"I agree. It’s absolutely fascinating. He was driven, driven, driven. Van Gogh was driving his brother Theo mad in Paris. So Theo says, ‘I’ll give you some money to go down to the south of France.’ Vincent wants to be like the Pre-Raphaelites, so he buys 12 chairs for his disciples, and invites them down to Arles. Only Gauguin comes. So there are two of them on 12 chairs. Van Gogh gets so excited about Gauguin coming that he paints his famous sunflower paintings— Fourteen Sunflowers and Fifteen Sunflowers —and hangs them in Gauguin’s bedroom as a huge welcoming bouquet. It’s so very, very touching. Martin Bailey is the most amazing van Gogh scholar. This book has everything you might want to know about that period in his life that produced all those paintings that everyone adores: the orchards, the sower etc. It’s a great book."
Five Biographies of Artists · fivebooks.com