Van Gogh in Paris

In February 1886, Vincent van Gogh was so poor that he could not pay his rent in Antwerp, Belgium, so he hotfooted it to Paris to move in with his brother.

He arrived unexpectedly in Paris in March 1886 and left just as abruptly. But he lived those two years like a ball of kinetic energy, interacting with the nineteenth century most dynamic artistic and intellectual environment.

van Gogh

Van Gogh stayed in the capital of the nineteenth century for two years, from 1886 to 1888. He lived with his brother Theo. Theo introduces van Gogh to the works of Clyde Monet and the Impressionists.

In Paris, his ideas about painting were challenged, and he learned new techniques and styles from many of the artists he met. In Paris he was introduced and became friends with Émile Bernard and Paul Gauguin, two painters who profoundly challenged his use of the palette.

Settling into an apartment with his brother on rue Lepic van Gogh explored his surroundings, paintings areas in close proximity to where he lived, including Asnieres, a nearby town along the bank’s of the Seine.

There he drew inspiration from the bridges, often depicting several different views, as well as the restaurants de la Sirene.

Paris 1886

He attended the salons of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, along with cancan dancers, musicians, actors and writers, and other members of the Montmartre demimonde. And he was particularly inspired by the work of Adolphe Monticelli, a painter from Provence who was known for his thickly painted and colorful still life of flowers.

During in Paris, van Goh used canvases of rather varied density, most commonly about 12 x 13 threads per square centimeter. Toward the end of his life, however, the majority of the canvases he employed has a weave that was slightly irregular and asymmetrical with 12 x 18 threads per square centimeter.
Van Gogh in Paris