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Vincent van Gogh

View of Arles, 1888

Description

Maker

Title

View of Arles

Year

1888

Medium

Reed pen and ink and wash over graphite on paper

Materials/Techniques

Materials

Supports

Dimensions

43.2 x 54.6 cm (17 x 21 1/2 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Signed at LL: Vue d'Arles/Vincent.

Type

Credit

Gift of Mrs. Murray S. Danforth

Object Number

42.212A

Projects & Publications

Publications

Selection V

French Watercolors and Drawings, ca. 1800-1910

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Inventing Impressionism

October 21, 2016 - June 11, 2017

Vincent van Gogh drew this meadow using a pen he cut from a reed that grew there. This simple handmade drawing tool allowed him to produce the variety of dots and lines seen on this sheet.

Despite his skillful rendering, the artist admitted in a letter to his brother, Theo, that he found the size of the paper and scope of the composition challenging. He used a perspective frame—a rectangular construction of his own design, crossed by strings—to help plan his study. The framing lines he drew based on this device are still visible along the top margin of the sheet and in a faint rectangle around the composition.

From Dürer to Van Gogh

June 5 - October 26, 2008

Executed with his distinctive reed pen, View of Arles is one ofthe first drawings in van Gogh’s body of work for which he utilized an overall dot pattern, a technique that intimates the scintillating color combinations and expressive handling ofhis paint. This sheet functioned both as a preparatory study and a finished composition for the art market. After drafting a perspective box in graphite, Van Gogh drew the central composition outdoors on site. This composition later became the basis for an oil study. Back in his studio, van Gogh finished the drawing for sale in Paris by adding irises in the foreground with an ink-laden pen, as well as a title and signature.

Drawing the Line

March 30 - June 10, 2001

Vincent van Gogh's landscape is built primarily, though not exclusively, of vertical marks varying in size, breadth, and tonality. In the foreground, irises are described with a heavy application of ink with a brush. Many marks, though, are made with a reed pen, recognizable by the split in their center. The marks defining the field become smaller and lighter toward the center of the picture, giving the illusion of distance. In the background, the buildings of Arles are carefully detailed in sharp contrast to the sketchier description of the rest of the picture. Most marks are isolated so that they vibrate against the light of the paper surrounding them. Their repetition creates pulsating, rhythmic patterns that suggest color and even sound.

Japonisme

November 4, 1994 - January 22, 1995

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is View of Arles with the accession number of 42.212A. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.