It was quite a revelation when I visited the Amsterdam museum two months ago. Generally intererested by impressionist paintings, I was quite sure I'd enjoy Van Gogh's. What I didn't know was that I would get totally obsessed by this extraordinary painter that I will refer to as Vincent in this article (this is how he signed all his paintings). Soon after this trip to Amsterdam I visited the temporary exhibition at the Musée d'Orsay showing some of Vincent's finest works.
After having read his biography written by David Haziot, I went back to the Musée d'Orsay for a deeper analysis of his paintings. The next natural step was to go to Auvers sur Oise, just 45 mins from Paris by train, a charming little town where Vincent spent the last 70 days of his life, before shooting himself with a revolver. Known as the impressionist's town, Auvers also saw Camille Pissaro, Paul Cézanne and others, all revolving around the famous Dr. Gachet who also treated Vincent. So I headed there today, the 27th of July 2014; I realised on arriving there that Vincent had killed himself on this very day, in 1890!
We started our day by visiting the local church that was made famous by Vincent's painting (Notre Dame d'Auvers). As luck had it, the mass was just ending when I entered the church, with one of my favourite songs! We walked on to Vincent's and his brother Theo Van Gogh's tombs, situated about 300m from the church and close to the wheat fields that Vincent painted more than once. Under the bright sun and the spotless blue sky, the fields looked a lot less ominous than in Vincent's wheat fields with crows (champ de blé aux corbeaux), one of his last paintings.
We then headed to the Chateau d'Auvers where we first filled our growling stomachs. The Chateau is void of decoration and furniture, it houses a ...well, I'm actually unable to say what exactly. It's haphazard, not interesting at all and costs 14€! I'd recommend your skip it honestly!
After a quick visit of Dr. Gachet's house, who obviously lived in excellent conditions, we walked along the river Oise and stopped for a well deserved chilled beer (it had easily been over 30°C the entire day), before heading back to Paris.
It is useful to know that during the summer months, there is a direct train to Auvers sur Oise leaving from Gare du Nord (Train H) at 9.38am. It leaves Auvers at 18.25 for Paris.
A lot of Vincent's paintings still remain to be seen but they are unfortunately dispersed all over the world. So now I'm waiting for the next obsession to come along :)
After having read his biography written by David Haziot, I went back to the Musée d'Orsay for a deeper analysis of his paintings. The next natural step was to go to Auvers sur Oise, just 45 mins from Paris by train, a charming little town where Vincent spent the last 70 days of his life, before shooting himself with a revolver. Known as the impressionist's town, Auvers also saw Camille Pissaro, Paul Cézanne and others, all revolving around the famous Dr. Gachet who also treated Vincent. So I headed there today, the 27th of July 2014; I realised on arriving there that Vincent had killed himself on this very day, in 1890!
We started our day by visiting the local church that was made famous by Vincent's painting (Notre Dame d'Auvers). As luck had it, the mass was just ending when I entered the church, with one of my favourite songs! We walked on to Vincent's and his brother Theo Van Gogh's tombs, situated about 300m from the church and close to the wheat fields that Vincent painted more than once. Under the bright sun and the spotless blue sky, the fields looked a lot less ominous than in Vincent's wheat fields with crows (champ de blé aux corbeaux), one of his last paintings.
We then headed to the Chateau d'Auvers where we first filled our growling stomachs. The Chateau is void of decoration and furniture, it houses a ...well, I'm actually unable to say what exactly. It's haphazard, not interesting at all and costs 14€! I'd recommend your skip it honestly!
After a quick visit of Dr. Gachet's house, who obviously lived in excellent conditions, we walked along the river Oise and stopped for a well deserved chilled beer (it had easily been over 30°C the entire day), before heading back to Paris.
It is useful to know that during the summer months, there is a direct train to Auvers sur Oise leaving from Gare du Nord (Train H) at 9.38am. It leaves Auvers at 18.25 for Paris.
A lot of Vincent's paintings still remain to be seen but they are unfortunately dispersed all over the world. So now I'm waiting for the next obsession to come along :)
