Jacques Réattu (1760–1833) He was born in Arles in 1760, the illegitimate son of the painter Guillaume de Barrême de Châteaufort. His uncle was also a well-known painter, Antoine Raspal, and Jacques soon showed promise as an artist himself. He entered the Academy in Paris and won the Prix de Rome in 1790 and established a reputation as a history painter which found favour in revolutionary France and the subsequent empire of Napoleon I. In 1798 he returned to Arles where he lived and worked for the rest of his days in a rather grand mansion on the banks of the Rhône which had previously been the old Grand Priory of the Knights of Malta. This building now forms part of the Musée Réattu which houses many of his paintings and drawings as well as works by Picasso and other more recent artists. The picture is a self-portrait from 1785.
Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) This giant in the history of art in the twentieth century always had a soft-spot for Arles and was a frequent visitor to bullfights at the Arena which provided a motif for many of his works. He was also deeply influenced by Van Gogh and his affection for the place was sealed in 1971 when he donated a group of 57 drawings to the Musée Réattu. The image shown is an aquatint etching from 1951 entitled Corrida en Arles.
Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (1848–1903) Although painting was not his first career, having been a successful stockbroker and businessman after a brief spell in the French navy, Gauguin eventually became part of the incredible circle of Parisian painting talent in the 1880’s. Initially he associated himself with Camille Pissarro, the father-figure of Impressionism, and Paul Cézanne. However his own ideas soon took him in a direction unique to himself and he became one of the most original thinkers in the artistic milleu. Pursuit of his ideas took him to Pont Aven in Brittany and then to Martinique. After seeing some of the paintings created there Van Gogh struck up a friendship with Gauguin and the relationship soon developed into something like adulation on Van Gogh’s part.
He was convinced that between them they could take painting in new and
exciting directions and be at the centre of a revolutionary artistic
movement. Van Gogh implored Gauguin to join him in Arles to participate
in this grand scheme that he called “the studio of the south” and in
October 1888 Gauguin arrived at the Yellow House. His portrait, Man in Red Beret
(Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam), was painted by Vincent soon after his
arrival. The relationship between two such temperamental and meteoric
characters was bound to be difficult and Van Gogh’s increasingly
troubled behaviour eventually led Gauguin to abandon the enterprise and
he left Arles after only nine weeks. The two artists never met again
although they continued to correspond and there is no doubt that their
time together in Arles, sometimes working side-by-side, led to the
creation of some of their most important work. Interestingly the letter
written by Van Gogh to Gauguin entreating him to travel to Arles is
housed in the Musée Réattu. The painting shown is Café de Nuit painted in 1888 (Pushkin Museum of Fine Art, Moscow).
Vincent Van Gogh (1853–1890) Vincent was born in Groot-Zundert in Holland, the son of a Protestant pastor. Always an impressionable and emotional child he struggled from an early age to find his direction in life. After a fairly unstructured education he took a job as a clerk and then as an art dealer with Goupil and Company in the Hague. He subsequently transferred to offices in London and then Paris but by 1875 he had decided that his true calling was as an evangelical preacher amongst the poor mining communities of Borinage. It was at this time that the idea entered his mind to become a painter and with the encouragement of his brother Theo and with the somewhat reluctant support of his parents he abandoned the religious life and became a full-time artist. It was now 1881 and Vincent was back living and working at home but this was always an uncomfortable arrangement and his turbulent mental state put any personal relationships under great strain. His troubled and brooding state of mind is, perhaps, reflected in the subject matter and the colour palette he employed at this time, epitomised by his work The Potato Eaters. It is an uncompromising and even brutal depiction of peasant life that he had witnessed first hand in Borinage. In 1886 he moved to Paris and lived for time with his brother Theo, and there entered the remarkable hothouse of creativity that the city had become, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Pissarro and Monet from the Impressionist school and other artists such as Gauguin and Cézanne who were trying to move their art in new directions. He absorbed these influences like a sponge and was effected by other styles from further afield such as Japanese prints and as a consequence his palette became brighter and more vibrant. The Self-Portrait with Straw Hat shown (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) is from this period (1887–88). However, city life with its extremes of pleasure and abjection took its toll on Vincent’s fragile mental state and by 1888 his health was at a very low ebb. He still passionately believed that he and others were on the threshold of an artistic revolution and formulated a plan to create a new school of painting. Encouraged by conversations with Toulouse Lautrec he decided this would be located in the south of France where the clarity of atmosphere and the vibrancy of colours in the landscape would facilitate these ground-breaking experiments in artistic expression.
And so it was that he set off for Arles in Provence to establish the
“Studio of the South”. His arrival in Arles coincided with terrible
winter weather but this did nothing to dampen his enthusiasm and he soon
established himself at the Yellow House on Place Lamartine. The painting shown is The Artist’s Bedroom in Arles (Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam). It was from
this humble dwelling that he sent letters to Gauguin imploring him to
join this grand enterprise. While waiting for his friend to join him
Vincent embarked on a prolific period of creativity, his palette
exploding with primary colours and his style developing a unique energy.
For a time all the notions that were crowding his mind were channelled
through his brushes onto canvas and the result is a remarkable legacy of
images that have helped to establish him as one of the giants of modern
art. Gauguin finally joined him in October 1888 but this painterly
partnership was destined to last only a few weeks. Although they started
with hope and expectation, the close confines of the Yellow House and
Vincent’s increasingly erratic and delusional behaviour led to a rapid
deterioration in their relationship. The situation became impossible,
culminating with threats of physical violence and then Vincent
mutilating his own ear which led to his hospitalisation. The dreams of a
new artistic colony were now in ruins and Gauguin departed to pursue
his ambitions under different skies. Van Gogh, under pressure from the
community in Arles, committed himself to the asylum at nearby Saint-Rémy
de Provence where he remained until 1890. His mental state remained
unstable although there were periods of lucidity and relative normality
and through it all he continued to paint, if anything, with increased
vigour and passion. Soon after returning to Paris and then
Auvers-sur-Oise the demons that had haunted Vincent for so long finally
got the better of him and he attempted suicide by shooting himself in
the chest. A few days later he died from his wounds. In less than a
decade Vincent had created a body of work consisting of almost nine
hundred paintings, thousands of drawings and hundreds of insightful
letters which have guaranteed him a unique place in art history.
Even today ... ... the streets of Arles provide inspiration for artists from all parts of the world and one of these is an Englishman called Peter Brown, often referred to as ‘Pete the Street’. He is well-known in Bath for painting urban scenes in all weathers and the sun-drenched streets of Arles have been captured in a series of paintings made on a recent visit. There are similarities with the play of sunlight on honey-coloured stone in the two places as well as a shared Roman heritage. The painting shown is Afternoon light, arches, the Amphitheatre, Arles (with permission of the artist).
SELECTED WORKS AND WHERE THEY MAY BE SEEN
If works mentioned in the text do not appear in the list they are in private collections.
Vincent Van Gogh Man in Red Beret
(Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam/www.vangoghmuseum.nl) Self-Portrait with Straw Hat shown (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York/ www.metmuseum.org) The Artist’s Bedroom in Arles (Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam/www.vangoghmuseum.nl)
Paul Gauguin Café de Nuit, 1888 (Pushkin Museum of Fine Art, Moscow/www.arts-museum.ru)
Jacques Réattu (1760–1833) 
Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) 
Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (1848–1903) 
He was convinced that between them they could take painting in new and
exciting directions and be at the centre of a revolutionary artistic
movement. Van Gogh implored Gauguin to join him in Arles to participate
in this grand scheme that he called “the studio of the south” and in
October 1888 Gauguin arrived at the Yellow House. His portrait, Man in Red Beret
(Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam), was painted by Vincent soon after his
arrival. The relationship between two such temperamental and meteoric
characters was bound to be difficult and Van Gogh’s increasingly
troubled behaviour eventually led Gauguin to abandon the enterprise and
he left Arles after only nine weeks. The two artists never met again
although they continued to correspond and there is no doubt that their
time together in Arles, sometimes working side-by-side, led to the
creation of some of their most important work. Interestingly the letter
written by Van Gogh to Gauguin entreating him to travel to Arles is
housed in the Musée Réattu. The painting shown is Café de Nuit painted in 1888 (Pushkin Museum of Fine Art, Moscow).
Vincent Van Gogh (1853–1890) 
And so it was that he set off for Arles in Provence to establish the
“Studio of the South”. His arrival in Arles coincided with terrible
winter weather but this did nothing to dampen his enthusiasm and he soon
established himself at the Yellow House on Place Lamartine. The painting shown is The Artist’s Bedroom in Arles (Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam). It was from
this humble dwelling that he sent letters to Gauguin imploring him to
join this grand enterprise. While waiting for his friend to join him
Vincent embarked on a prolific period of creativity, his palette
exploding with primary colours and his style developing a unique energy.
For a time all the notions that were crowding his mind were channelled
through his brushes onto canvas and the result is a remarkable legacy of
images that have helped to establish him as one of the giants of modern
art. Gauguin finally joined him in October 1888 but this painterly
partnership was destined to last only a few weeks. Although they started
with hope and expectation, the close confines of the Yellow House and
Vincent’s increasingly erratic and delusional behaviour led to a rapid
deterioration in their relationship. The situation became impossible,
culminating with threats of physical violence and then Vincent
mutilating his own ear which led to his hospitalisation. The dreams of a
new artistic colony were now in ruins and Gauguin departed to pursue
his ambitions under different skies. Van Gogh, under pressure from the
community in Arles, committed himself to the asylum at nearby Saint-Rémy
de Provence where he remained until 1890. His mental state remained
unstable although there were periods of lucidity and relative normality
and through it all he continued to paint, if anything, with increased
vigour and passion. Soon after returning to Paris and then
Auvers-sur-Oise the demons that had haunted Vincent for so long finally
got the better of him and he attempted suicide by shooting himself in
the chest. A few days later he died from his wounds. In less than a
decade Vincent had created a body of work consisting of almost nine
hundred paintings, thousands of drawings and hundreds of insightful
letters which have guaranteed him a unique place in art history.
Even today ...
