The Latter Days of Vincent
In the final two years of his life, Van Gogh painted a series of autobiographical paintings that reveal his joy and despair…
Vincent Van Gogh painted many of his best known works during the last two years of his life. They range from delicate nature studies to euphoric celebrations of the landscape, from brutally honest self-portraits to penetrating portraits of others that manage to mirror the artist’s moods, from intimate illustrations of his private spaces to paintings of the world he saw around him. Through considering a small selection of his works in chronological order, a narrative can be read of Vincent’s personal history…
The Yellow House
This remarkable painting is of the house on Place Lamartine in Arles where Vincent lived during his most revolutionary and prolific period from May 1888 until his demise. He rented the right half as we look at it in the painting, with the distinctive green door and shutters.
After several preparatory sketches, Vincent painted this view in September 1888, later titling it The Street, though it is more commonly refereed to as The Yellow House. It’s a cheery, autobiographical work. The house seems to glow with its own light against the deep blue of the sky, and careful observation reveals…
