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A visit from Van Gogh
In February 1888 one of the world's most famous artists came
to Arles to be inspired by the bright skies of Southern France.
Vincent Van Gogh was so prolific here that he painted
over 300 works during his 15 month stay in the town. Today
in Arles you can visit the sites of the tortured artists most
famous works. He fed off the yellow colours in Arles and painted
his house in yellow.
His 130 year old painting of the bridge at Trinquetaille
shows a small sprig, which is now a huge tree. After an argument
with the artists Paul Gaguin, Van Gogh tried to kill
his fellow artist and then cut off his ear and gave it to
a prostitute. He was detained in the Sanatorium at Arles.
Today the hospital keeps the gardens exactly as they are depicted
in Van Gogh's paintings.
In modern Arles you can visit the Van Gogh Foundation and
see modern intepretations of his classic works by up and coming
contemporary artists. The Starry Night Over the Rhone
is described by the artist Picasso as the one Van Gogh
painting that one can never take away from Arles.
The Rome of France
Arles has enough Roman antiquities intact to call itself
"The Rome of France". In fact its ampitheatre is
apparently one of the oldest in the Roman world and could
fit 20,000 spectators in its heyday. In the early middle ages
it was transformed into a fortress sheltering more than 200
houses and two vaults. 2000 years ago gladiators fought to
the death in the ampitheatre. The gladiators would battled
with wolves and animals local to Arles; lions and tiger were
the reserve of Rome's Colosseum alone.
Nowadays, the ampitheatre has been revived for bullfighting.
In French bullfighting, known as course camarguise
the young razeteurs dress in white and try to remove ribbons
from the bulls horns. Unlike Spanish bullfighting, the bulls
are not killed and return unharmed to bounce around the fields
of the Camargue. |
