Our Day in Arles...

We boarded the 9:51 AM train for a 15 minute ride to Arles to get to know Vincent van Gogh a bit better. What we found was a cool little town in which to wander and get lost.


We exited and headed to the riverfront.


We actually came to see Vincent van Gogh's masterpiece, Starry Night Over The Rhône, which is displayed for the first time in Arles since its creation, 136 years ago. WOW, right? The photo above is the actual site where Vincent painted with candles mounted on his hat so he could see in the dark.
Starry Night, painted in September 1888, was the fulfilment of a long-held desire. The previous spring, Van Gogh had written to his friend Émile Bernard, "A starry sky, for example, well, it's a thing that I'd like to try to do." Then a few days before painting this masterpiece, he wrote to his sister, "I definitely want to paint a starry sky now. It often seems to me that the night is even more richly colored than the day". This long planned painting expresses Vincent's interest in the night, an inclination he had developed by reading poems and studying the works of painters he admired.
Fondation Vincent Van Gogh is hosting this brand new exhibition which explores the visual culture of the period in which Van Gogh painted this Night. The exhibition examines the similarities between this work and those of later artists. The first part is devoted to starry skies and the astronomical culture of the artists, while the second looks at the metaphysical or spiritual ideas that influenced Van Gogh and others who followed him. This exhibition invites us to consider what the Dutch master was suggesting when he wrote to his brother, "But you should know that I'm in the middle of a complicated calculation that results in canvases done quickly one after another but calculated long beforehand. And look, when people say they're done too quickly you'll be able to reply that they looked at them too quickly."
I am a huge fan of any of Van Gogh's Starry images. To see this one, upon its long overdue return home, was an amazing gift. We were not rushed or pressured to move on. We could take our time and not "look at them too quickly".
"Notorious for his lifelong struggle with depression, many of Vincent van Gogh’s works are debated for their dark undertones hinting at the artist’s state of mind as he worked. However, Van Gogh’s letters describes this “cheerful” view from his new home (Arles), where he had newfound high spirits and fresh inspiration for painting. In Starry Night Over the Rhône, he captures his characteristic magical starlit sky, peeking through the darkness of night and twinkling off the river. This respite from the darkest of days is a moment of peace, a brightness when the weight of the world feels crushing and inescapable. It’s inevitable to have days full of doubt, of dull repetition and shadowed by despair. But when a view of the sparkling Rhône lifted his spirits, Van Gogh felt the need to capture that cheerfulness of a sky full of stars and strolling lovers through his own whimsical eye."
At the start of his career, Antoine Bourdelle worked with Theo van Gogh, Vincent's brother, to earn a living. But he quickly gained recognition as a sculptor and became Rodin's assistant. "Night, considered his 1904 masterpiece, illustrates ambivalence. It is an achievement that appears to have been shaped by darkness, a gripping embodiment of anguish. This gnome-like head from one of Füssli's nightmares is a slimy lump of blackness, and seems to have been torn, quite literally, from an allegorical Apollonian sculpture where, on the shoulders of a young man, it was supposed to symbolize the Saturnian doubt which corrupts the adolescent." Yes, I didn't get it either.
We both liked this by Daniel Tremblay (1950-1985). He sought to express a form of cosmic poetry inspired by the simplest objects and situations in life. In this way, his work is characteristic of the artistic creation of the late 1970s in England, where he studied. He was trying to broaden the public's perception by showing how rearranged junk could be poetic. The theme of the stars recurs frequently in Tremblay's work.





I just loved this piece. The informational plaque, regarding its story, was hidden on a windowsill. I'm so glad I found it. "This reliquary, designed by astronomy enthusiast Raymond Roussel, containing a relic that was sacred to him, demonstrates his admiration for the astronomer, writer and spiritualist Camille Flammarion, who was perhaps one of the models for the main character in his famous novel Locus Solus (1914). The first clue is provided by a handwritten label signed by Roussel: "Star from a lunch I had on Sunday 29 July 1923 at the Juvisy observatory at the home of Camille Flammarion, who was the host. -Raymond Roussel."

Georges Bataille, who bought the star at a flea market years later wrote, "Roussel's obscure intention seems to be linked to the edible nature of the star... he obviously wanted to possess the edible star with more consequence and reality than by simply ingesting it. For me, the strange object meant that Roussel had fulfilled in his own way the dream he must have had of 'eating a star from the sky'."
The staircase photographed was an artwork titled, Hatching for Arles: Staircase in the Rain by Fritz Hauser. It consists of sound drawing, pencil, charcoal, colored pencil, felt pen, engraving on silver, and speakers in variable dimensions. "For Arles, he created a sound installation in the stairwell of the Fondation, using various drawing tools to quite literally engrave and scratch hatching onto the silver colored walls. The musically inspired sounds and noises were recorded by a sound engineer and subsequently mixed by the musician. Hatching for Arles: is heard in the stairwell as an acoustic installation, and evokes the sound of rain, like an aural paraphrase of Utagawa Hiroshige's Japanese woodcut Bridge in the Rain (above), to which Van Gogh explicitly referred in one of his paintings."

And to end the visit with another Van Gogh seemed appropriate. Evening (After Millet) captures a peasant couple sit by the light of an oil lamp. The woman is mending clothes and her husband is working on a wicker basket. Their child is asleep; next to the fireplace, a cat dozes. The canvas radiates a quiet serenity. During his stay in the psychiatric hospital in Saint-Rémy, France, Vincent received a series of prints from his brother Theo of paintings by Jean-François Millet, a French painter he greatly admired. Van Gogh used one of those prints as his model for this work. France works its magic on people!
Lunch was a Breton galette. This pancake made with buckwheat flour was filled with goat and bleu cheeses, topped with walnuts. Galettes for lunch at a sidewalk café is unforgettable.

A stroll through town introduced us to the other wonders of Arles. Steve and I will be returning for a more thorough explore but WOW today!
“Almost a cry of anguish while symbolizing gratitude
in the rustic sunflower."
-Van Gogh



Our final stop was at the Musée Réattu.
The Musée emanates an air of secrecy, long forgotten tales and unsettled uprising within its courtyards and high ceilinged rooms. Situated in a small back street, the museum was originally a bastion for the Knights of the Order of Malta and retains emblems and hidden passageways from their residency here. The overhanging gargoyles remain a foreboding warning to all who walk under them to confide in only their trusted allies. What a location!
After the reign of The Knights of Malta, the space was purchased along with the surrounding lots, over a period of years by Jacques Réattu.
Local boy, Jacques, used the architecturally intriguing building as a home and studio. By the way, Réattu was the winner of the Grand Prix de Rome in 1790. He was talented. On display is virtually all of his work as well as his collections of paintings from the 18th century Provençal school (Antoine Raspal) and the 16th to 19th century French, Italian and Dutch schools (Simon Vouet, Antoine Coypel, François-Xavier Fabre).
First stop was a detour into a very unique space. Here was a different way to experience art. How cool is this tactile version of the painting below?

This bust was another tactile piece. I've never seen anything like this. Awesome.
We met Jacques Réattu (1760- 1833) via his self-portrait. Both Annie and I were very impressed by this artist neither of us had every heard of.






I was very intrigued by his unfinished, yet framed, works like this fantastic piece Death of Alcibiades. It lets us glimpse into his methods and techniques. It contains the outlines he used as his guide and shows how he pieced his paintings together. Interesting!




Picasso donated 57 drawings to the museum after becoming enamored with the place in 1971. His sketches here are instantly recognizable as his work.

This painting is María Picasso y López, Picasso's mother. The man could paint! It really showcases his talent. I liked seeing that side of him.

The Museum contains a really worthwhile collection and the choice of contemporary and classic art on display creates an interesting mix and maintains interest throughout. A section dedicated to the history of the building itself transports us back to times when maps were hand drawn and attests to the museum, and Arles', place in art history. What a great discovery!
Avignon has proven to be an exceptional homebase. It has been described as the 'Gateway to Provence'. I am convinced that to be true. I can't wait to see what more we discover.

"...Nature here is extraordinarily beautiful.
Everything and everywhere.
The dome of the sky is a wonderful blue,
the sun has a pale sulphur radiance,
and it’s soft and charming,
like the combination of celestial blues and yellows
in paintings by Vermeer of Delft.
I can’t paint as beautifully as that, but it absorbs me so much
that I let myself go without thinking about any rule."
-Van Gogh, describing Arles to Theo

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