As with the other residents of this fine old town, I am eagerly awaiting the inauguration of the Fondation Vincent Van Gogh Arles tomorrow. It has been many months in the making with a thorough renovation of a 15th century hôtel particulier just down the street from where I live. Much banging has been accompanied by a fair shake of rat a tat tat. Something tells me Vincent would have approved.
Certainly he would be delighted that at last his work is being appreciated and shown in a town he loved so dearly (until now there has been only one Van Gogh in all of Provence, in a private collection in Avignon). There is much mystery about his time here and quite a few myths to be pierced as well. But for me, what is certain, is that he took something as intangible to paint as the Mistral winds that blow and caught them by the tail. The light? He coaxed and wheedled until it was eating out of his hand like the swallows that criss-cross overhead.
We see what we want to see and certainly Vincent stuck to his lonely path until the end. And now we have the remnants of his scattered moments of happiness, his brazen unknown success, to gaze upon and understand what is our Provence.
I’ll leave you with some of his colors – albeit modern and worn – found on one walk through the centre historique, not far from his Yellow House.
Have a lovely weekend and I will report back after the opening in a few days…
I look forward to visiting it in September. I love that you see color and beauty everywhere.
Absolutely beautiful Heather!
xxTracy
Amazing, Heather, what you see and how you get the camera to capture it…absolutely beautiful. Your fan Leslie in Oregon
Gorgeous. These textures and shapes and couloirs font l'art abstract.
Fantastic.
I love van Gogh. His colours are so crazy sometimes but they make perfect sense. Your photos look like paintings.
Gorgeous those closeups, like beautifully abstract paintigs!
Hey! How did you get impasto in your photos? Just gorgeous!
So beautiful. Vincent would be pleased. That every day you get to see what he saw… what a gift. From him to you and to all of us. XXXX
Beautiful. Every time I see your photos of old facades and structures, I think of our current mindset, which is tear it down, tear it down..because it's not safe…we have very little left to see and touch that is old.
What a treasure you will have. I love seeing the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and go there almost every visit to the city. You are blessed to be living in Arles. Beautiful photos of colors and textures. xo Jenny