Van Gogh returns to Arles, the town of his mystical nights | EUROtoday

In 1888 the artist Vincent Van Gogh He wrote a letter to his sister through which he mentioned the next: Right now I wish to paint a starry sky. It typically appears to me that the night time is even richer and extra colourful than the day, with extra intense shades of violets, blues and greens. If you concentrate, you may see that some stars are yellow, others pink, inexperienced… It is clear that To paint a starry sky you don't must put white dots on a blue sky.

This epistolary declaration of intentions was expressed shortly afterwards in one of many artist's most emblematic nocturnal items and a masterpiece within the historical past of artwork: Starry Night over the Rdano. The canvas represents the night time of Arlesa metropolis within the south of France the place the painter lived at the moment.

This oil was exhibited a yr later in Paris, together with one other portray by Van Gogh and since then it has lived in Paris, within the Museo D’Orsay for years. He by no means returned to Arles till now, for the primary time in 136 years.

He cosmic poem It is exhibited on the Vincent Van Gogh Foundation from June 21 to August 25, just some meters from the place the place he painted it. The repatriacin of the canvas is produced inside the framework of the exhibition Van Gogh and the celebritieswhich brings collectively 160 works by 75 artists who have been ultimately influenced by the painter and astronomy.

The cosmos and astronomy have been two themes that at all times fascinated the artist, who created a number of very emblematic nocturnal works. Starry Night over the Rdano It is the axis of the exhibition through which the context, scientific and literary environment of the time is explored. This theme additionally seems within the works of Jules Verne or Victor Hugo and in different artists similar to Augusto Giacometti. The concept of ​​the exhibition is to point out the mental local weather, the cultural sociology of the time, at a time when astronomy was a really current subject, explains one of many two curators of the exhibition, Jean de Loisy. We didn't need it to be a typical exhibition, however quite a exact one, that will replicate that particular concept, he explains.

According to De Loisy, Van Gogh did advanced issues in an especially tough context together with his experimentations, and paved the best way for different artistsfrom the time but in addition up to date.

His data of heaven was profound. I didn’t draw the celebrities randomly, however He introduced his reflections to the canvas and organized the constellations with precision.. In Starry Night over the Rdano, for instance, reveals that of the Big Dipper, which illuminates the sky. As the curator explains, Van Gogh managed to make the celebrities correspond with musicality, of their exact place, and that we now have the phantasm that they shine, due to the reflection that it created.

Before there was gentle in public areas, what was seen have been the celebrities, additionally illustrated by the police station. Bice Curiger. That was the spirit of the time. In the portray, he explains, you see Arles, the sky and the celebrities: Everything is within the portray, there’s a couple, which represents humanity, there are the boats, which signify work…

In the exhibition there are illustrations of the work of astronomer Camille Flammarion, the constellation examine of Paul Klee, the cosmos of Maurice Chabas, pictures of Gustave Dor, Yves Klein, Munch, Kandinsky, Georgia O'Keeffe, Anish Kapoor and Paul Mignard. There are items which might be conceived as if Van Gogh's journey have been to achieve the cosmos, explains Jean de Loisy. There are artists who imagine that it exists a relationship between our future and the celebrities.

Among them, Van Gogh. He was a loner who superior in a world that he invented in every portray. This is said by the sculptor Jean-Marie Appriou, who has been impressed by the artist for his work. Juliette Agnel He tells of the affect it additionally had on his personal, a set of night time pictures taken in Sudan. Both artists are current within the Arles exhibition.

Commissioner Curiger tells how the thought arose, by no means simple, to take away Starry Night over the Rdano from the D'Orsay Museum to take it to Arls. In his case, the request needed to be made three years upfront. Being on this room, with this icon of artwork historical past, which has been reproduced so many occasions and which has been a supply of inspiration for thus many artists. it's a dream.

It is now 10 years for the reason that inauguration of the Vincent Van Gogh Foundation in Arles. Also of the start of the works of the principle constructing of Luma Arls, the Tower of the Architect Frank Gehrywhich opened in June 2021. At the middle of those two initiatives is Vincent Van Gogh, who additionally conjures up two of the multidisciplinary artist exhibitions on the Luma beginning this week.