1888, Vincent van Gogh, Bridge at Arles (Pont de Langlois) (detail) -- Kroller-Muller Museum (Otterlo)
From the museum label: Helene Kröller-Müller purchases the painting at the auction of the Hoogendijk collection on 21 May 1912. The acquisition causes quite a stir: on her instruction, Bremmer bids more than five times the asking price. Helene calls the work one of the 'most beautiful, most powerful, most crystal clear' Van Goghs in her possession.
After spending almost two years in Paris, by early 1888 Vincent van Gogh has had enough of the city. Artist friends tell him about the south of France, 'the land of the blue tones and bright colours', and he decides that his next destination will be Provence. This proves to be a good choice: 'I've never had such good fortune; nature here is extraordinarily beautiful. [...] I can't paint as beautifully as that, but it absorbs me so much that I let myself go without thinking about any rule.' In Arles, Van Gogh makes several versions of the drawbridge over a canal, just south of the town. The clear blue water forms a diagonal in the picture, which leads the eye to the bridge and the covered wagon crossing it.
Link to the full painting.
Link to other van Gogh paintings
1888, Vincent van Gogh, Bridge at Arles (Pont de Langlois) (detail) -- Kroller-Muller Museum (Otterlo)
From the museum label: Helene Kröller-Müller purchases the painting at the auction of the Hoogendijk collection on 21 May 1912. The acquisition causes quite a stir: on her instruction, Bremmer bids more than five times the asking price. Helene calls the work one of the 'most beautiful, most powerful, most crystal clear' Van Goghs in her possession.
After spending almost two years in Paris, by early 1888 Vincent van Gogh has had enough of the city. Artist friends tell him about the south of France, 'the land of the blue tones and bright colours', and he decides that his next destination will be Provence. This proves to be a good choice: 'I've never had such good fortune; nature here is extraordinarily beautiful. [...] I can't paint as beautifully as that, but it absorbs me so much that I let myself go without thinking about any rule.' In Arles, Van Gogh makes several versions of the drawbridge over a canal, just south of the town. The clear blue water forms a diagonal in the picture, which leads the eye to the bridge and the covered wagon crossing it.
Link to the full painting.
Link to other van Gogh paintings