While it's true that Van Gogh often wrote about his works in detail, the florid description of the colours and subject matter of Vincent's Bedroom in Arles is unusually involved. Furthermore, Vincent even suggests a specific frame for the painting which clearly shows that the artist envisioned it proudly on display.

Background

Even with three painted versions it's a relatively straightforward process to pinpoint the details about the origin of this particular painting--thanks to Van Gogh's voluminous letters to Theo. In the letter cited above Van Gogh describes the work as a "size 30" (large) canvas, so this would immediately eliminate the Musée d'Orsay version which is significantly smaller. Could the Chicago version of the bedroom painting be the original, however, and not the Van Gogh Museum version? Jan Hulsker, Van Gogh scholar and expert on the letters argues to the contrary:

As the two others, differing only in very minor details, are size-30 canvases, one of them must be the replica made in Saint-Rémy. The fact that [JH] 1608 is the original, painted in Arles, is confirmed by a detail in the picture itself. In Letter 553b, written October 4--only about ten days before the painting was made--Vincent informed his friend Boch: "Your portrait is hanging in my bedroom, together with that of Milliet, the Zouave, which I have just completed." The painting on the far right above the bed in 1608 must indeed be what he referred to as the portrait of Milliet, for the bright red of the kepi can be made out against the green of the background just below the upper edge of the picture. In the later replica, 1771, this figure has been replaced by a portrait of a woman.¹

(See Table 2 below.)

Furthermore, now that the profiled work has been established as the original, it can be accurately dated thanks to Van Gogh's Letter 555 (17 October 1888) in which he wrote "I am adding a line to tell you that this afternoon I finished the canvas representing the bedroom." It's rare (but always welcome) that Van Gogh's paintings can be dated with such precision. A recent article in Sky and Telescope (April, 2001) about The White House at Night is another example in which the completion of a Van Gogh work can be narrowed down to a matter of a few hours.

Style

The bright and bold use of colour in Vincent's Bedroom in Arles is typical of the vibrant palette he began to use beginning late in his Paris period. Yellow was Van Gogh's favourite colour throughout his Arles and Saint-Rémy period--whether outdoors in wheatfields under the Provencal sun or indoor works such as the bedroom.

Probably the most striking and unusual aspect of the painting is the peculiar perspective. The work is unrealistic in its warped portrayal of the bedroom, with the subjects skewed downward toward the viewer. This is one of the aspects that makes the painting so unique and easily recognizable. The perspective seems extreme, but later in his career as an artist Van Gogh was not only rebelling against the muted colours of the Dutch artists of the time, he was also breaking free from the confines of the perspective frame which dictated a precise and realistic approach to a work's perspective. Van Gogh often rejected conventional perspective in the latter half of his career as an artist--particularly in many of his Arles paintings (see The Seated Zouave and The Night Cafe in the Place Lamartine in Arles, for example).

Interestingly, the unusual perspective isn't necessarily explained solely because of Van Gogh's conscious stylistic choice. Ronald Pickvance in his book Van Gogh in Arles suggests an explanation based more on architectural fact than artistic preference. Pickvance explains that the very shape of Van Gogh's room was unusual and, as a result, Van Gogh's portrayal of it is actually more realistic than the viewer might initially imagine. The diagram at right shows the actual shape of Van Gogh's room.² Note the slant to the outer wall which, when depicted in Van Gogh's painting, adds to the unusual perspective.

Other versions

As mentioned, Van Gogh produced five versions of his Bedroom in Arles: three oils and two letter sketches. The two copies of the original painting were produced while Van Gogh was under voluntary confinement at the mental asylum in Saint-Rémy. Van Gogh chose to paint a number of copies of his earlier works while in the asylum--perhaps as a reflection of his mental state at the time. His copies of L'Arlesienne (Madame Ginoux), for example, may suggest the loneliness of his life at the asylum as he reflected fondly on the few friends he had made in Arles.

Some have argued that Vincent's original bedroom painting encapsulates all of his dreams and aspirations during the first several months in Arles. Van Gogh had hoped for form an artist's colony in the south of France--a cooperative community in which painters could learn from each other and support their collective goals. When Vincent rented his Yellow House he took the first step toward realizing this goal. The bedroom painting, in turn, suggests domesticity and a sense of well being within one's own home (in Letter B22 Van Gogh himself maintains that the painting conveys "absolute restfulness"). When Van Gogh painted the two Saint-Rémy copies he may have been ruminating on all that he had lost in Arles and what he was deprived of within the asylum walls: a home and a sense of purpose.

Table 1