43 Paintings, Streets of Paris, The Courtesans of Paris, as portrayed by Artists from 1850-1910 – Behind the Scenes, with footnotes #77

Van Gogh painted this sketch of a brothel parlor while working in close dialogue with fellow artist Paul Gauguin. In the fall of 1888, Van Gogh convinced Gauguin to join him in Arles in the South of France, and the two artists often painted there side by side. They also visited brothels together, partly to find figural subjects for painting. Encouraged by Gauguin, Van Gogh painted this work from memory, capturing the types of people — women in bright dresses drinking with men, soldiers wearing distinctive red hats — encountered in such a setting. He used an underlying blue wash to suggest the lurid atmosphere. More on this painting

Vincent van Gogh (born March 30, 1853, Zundert, Neth. — died July 29, 1890, Auvers-sur-Oise, near Paris, France). Dutch painter, generally considered the greatest after Rembrandt, and one of the greatest of the Post-Impressionists. The striking colour, emphatic brushwork, and contoured forms of his work powerfully influenced the current of Expressionism in modern art. Van Gogh’s art became astoundingly popular after his death, especially in the late 20th century, when his work sold for record-breaking sums at auctions around the world and was featured in blockbuster touring exhibitions. In part because of his extensive published letters, van Gogh has also been mythologized in the popular imagination as the quintessential tortured artist. More on Vincent van Gogh…

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