Langlois Bridge at Arles

Last updated

The Langlois Bridge at Arles
Vincent Van Gogh 0014.jpg
Artist Vincent van Gogh
Year1888
Medium Oil on canvas
Dimensions49.5 cm× 64.5 cm(19.5 in× 25.4 in)
Location Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne, Germany (F570)

The Langlois Bridge at Arles is the subject of four oil paintings, one watercolor and four drawings by Vincent van Gogh. The works, made in 1888 when van Gogh lived in Arles, in southern France, represent a melding of formal and creative aspects. Van Gogh used a perspective frame that he built and used in The Hague to create precise lines and angles when portraying perspective.

Contents

Van Gogh was influenced by Japanese woodcut prints, as evidenced by his simplified use of color to create a harmonious and unified image. Contrasting colors, such as blue and yellow, were used to bring a vibrancy to the works. He painted with an impasto, or thickly applied paint, using color to depict the reflection of light. The subject matter, a drawbridge on a canal, reminded him of his homeland in the Netherlands. He asked his brother Theo to frame and send one of the paintings to an art dealer in the Netherlands. The reconstructed Langlois Bridge is now named Pont Van-Gogh .

Background

Arles

Van Gogh was 35 when he made the Langlois Bridge paintings and drawings. Living in Arles, in southern France, he was at the height of his career, producing some of his best work: [1] sunflowers, fields, farmhouses and people of the Arles, Nîmes and Avignon areas. [2] It was a prolific time for van Gogh: in less than 15 months [3] he made about 100 drawings, produced more than 200 paintings and wrote more than 200 letters. [4]

The canals, drawbridges, windmills, thatched cottages and expansive fields of the Arles countryside reminded van Gogh of his life in the Netherlands. Arles brought him the solace and bright sun that he sought for himself and conditions to explore painting with more vivid colors, intense color contrasts and varied brushstrokes. He also returned to the roots of his artistic training from the Netherlands, most notably with the use of a reed pen for his drawings. [5]

Langlois Bridge

The original drawbridge, 1902. It was replaced by a reinforced-concrete bridge in 1930. At van Gogh's time, it was called Pont de Langlois, Langlois' bridge, after its bridge keeper. The bridge has been relocated and renamed Pont Van-Gogh Van gogh bruecke 1902.jpg
The original drawbridge, 1902. It was replaced by a reinforced-concrete bridge in 1930. At van Gogh's time, it was called Pont de Langlois, Langlois' bridge, after its bridge keeper. The bridge has been relocated and renamed Pont Van-Gogh

The Langlois Bridge was one of the crossings over the Arles to Bouc canal. [6] The double-beam drawbridge was built in the first half of the 19th century to expand the network of canals to the Mediterranean Sea. Locks and bridges were built, too, to manage water and road traffic. Just outside Arles, the first bridge was the officially titled "Pont de Réginel" but better known by the keeper's name as "Pont de Langlois". [7] [8] In 1930, the original drawbridge was replaced by a reinforced concrete structure which, in 1944, was blown up by the retreating Germans who destroyed all the other bridges along the canal except for the one at Fos-sur-Mer, a port on the Mediterranean Sea. The Fos Bridge was dismantled in 1959 with a view to relocating it on the site of the Langlois Bridge but as a result of structural difficulties, it was finally reassembled at Montcalde Lock several kilometers away from the original site. [9] [10]

According to letters to his brother Theo, van Gogh began a study of women washing clothes near the Langlois Bridge about mid-March 1888 [11] and was working on another painting of the bridge about 2 April. [12] This was the first of several versions he painted of the Langlois Bridge that crossed the Arles canal. [8]

Reflecting on van Gogh's works of the Langlois Bridge Debora Silverman, author of the book Van Gogh and Gauguin: The Search for Sacred Art comments, "Van Gogh's depictions of the bridge have been considered a quaint exercise in nostalgia mingled with Japonist allusions." Van Gogh approached the making of the paintings and drawings about the bridge in a "serious and sustained manner" with attention to "the structure, function, and component parts of this craft mechanism in the landscape." [13]

Perspective frame

In Arles van Gogh began using again a perspective frame he had built in The Hague. The device was used for outdoor sightings to compare the proportion of items that were near to those that were in the distance. Some of the works of the Langlois Bridge were made with the aid of the frame. Its use "deepened his exploration of the drawbridge as a mechanism." [14]

Japanese influence

The Langlois Bridge reminded van Gogh of Hiroshige's print Sudden Shower on the Great Bridge . [15] Inspired by the Japanese wood block prints, van Gogh sought to integrate techniques from Japanese artwork into his own. In a letter to Émile Bernard about the Langlois Bridge, he wrote: "If the Japanese are not making any progress in their own country, still it cannot be doubted that their art is being continued in France." With a Japanese aesthetic, van Gogh's Langlois Bridge paintings reflect a simplified use of color to create a harmonious and unified image. Outlines were used to suggest movement. He used fewer shades of colors, preferring multiple subtle color variations. The Langlois Bridge reminded van Gogh of Hiroshige's Sudden Shower on the Great Bridge inspiring him to use blocks of colors, like patterns of yellow against a blue sky, colors chosen to create a sense of vitality [15] of the Japanese prints and the vibrant quality of light in southern France. [16] These approaches created a more powerful impact and depicted the simpler, primitive quality of the country lifestyle. [17]

Three paintings with similar compositions

The Langlois Bridge at Arles with Women Washing is one of van Gogh's most iconic and best loved paintings, acknowledged as the first masterpiece of his Arles period. [18] It depicts common canal-side activities. A little yellow cart crosses the bridge while a group of women in smocks and multicoloured caps wash linen on the shore. [11] [12] Van Gogh skillfully uses his knowledge of color theory and the "law of simultaneous contrasts" [19] in this work. The grass is depicted with alternating brush strokes of red-orange and green. Yellow and blue complementary colors are used in the bridge, sky and river. Use of complementary colors intensifies the impact of each color creating a "vibrant and coloristically unified whole." [20]

Naomi Mauer, author of The Pursuit of Spiritual Wisdom: The Thought and Art of Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin describes van Gogh's technical and artistic execution of this painting.

"Compositionally, the vertical and horizontal geometry of the bridge and its reflection in the water create a great central cross which imparts a classical symmetry and equilibrium to the canvas. This central geometric framework, which is echoed and enclosed by the bands of sky above and the bank below, is relieved and enlivened by the great undulating sweep of the hill and shore, the round knot of washerwomen amid the circular ripples of the water, and the flexible, slightly curved grasses at the right. Both formally and chromatically, the Bridge of Langlois demonstrates Vincent's abstraction of nature to its essential coloristic and formal elements, and his creation from these components of a harmoniously interwoven unity in which humanity and its works are perfectly integrated." [20]

For The Langlois Bridge at Arles (watercolor) van Gogh manages to create precise details of the bridge, such as the hardware, iron supports, braces and chain pulleys with watercolor. [21]

Two other paintings

The Langlois Bridge at Arles with Road alongside the Canal

Van Gogh used varying techniques when he created the painting, depending upon the subject and what he wanted to convey. The grass and the path in the foreground were painted rapidly. The bridge, though, was painted in greater detail, [8] [22] [23] with clearly defined stone piers and wooden beams. The detail in the ropes used to lift the roadway show that they are attached to the wooden lifting gear. Van Gogh also pays close attention to the reflection of the bridge in the water. In the distance is another drawbridge. [8]

Van Gogh claimed the painting as "something funny... I will not create every day." [8] [24] There was something about the setting for this painting that reminded him of his homeland. [2] [25] He asked his brother Theo to frame an earlier version of the painting in blue and gold (blue in the front, gold on the side) and offer it to an art-dealer in the Netherlands, [8] named Tersteeg. [12] [26] Tersteeg knew van Gogh and his brother Theo when they lived in The Hague. He nurtured van Gogh's early artistic interests but their relationship suffered after van Gogh lived with a prostitute named Sien. [27]

The Van Gogh Museum claims that the painting is the last in a series of three, [8] yet Silverman has identified four oil paintings and a fifth watercolor, as outlined in this article. [13]

The Langlois Bridge at Arles

Wallraf-Richartz Museum's Langlois Bridge at Arles depicts a woman holding an umbrella as she crosses the Langlois Bridge, following a horse and buggy that just crossed the bridge. The water in the canal subtly reflects the bridge and the few clouds in the sky. Van Gogh uses impasto paint and color to reflect light, much as we would see it in with our eye. Two tall cypress trees and a white house flank the drawbridge which has a moveable center section between stone abutments. [28] The painting is currently at the Wallraf-Richartz Museum in Cologne, Germany. [29]

Drawings

Soon after arriving in Arles, van Gogh asked his brother to send him a copy of Armand Cassagne's Guide to the Alphabet of Drawing. His request was generated by an interest to return to foundational drawing practices, such as his use of a perspective frame for the drawings and paintings that he made of Langlois Bridge. [30] A letter dated March 18, 1888, to his friend Émile Bernard contains a sketch of the bridge (JH 1370 below) and the color scheme he is considering adopting, clearly showing his use of sketching and drawing as a preliminary to his painting. He spoke of how the town (Arles) "projects the strange silhouette of its drawbridge against a huge yellow sun." [31]

Appearances in other media

Arthur C. Clarke made reference to van Gogh's Bridge at Arles in his novel 2001: A Space Odyssey . In it, the character David Bowman notices the painting (along with Andrew Wyeth's Christina's World ) when observing the living room of "an elegant, anonymous hotel suite" after travelling through the Stargate. The painting did not appear in the movie.

Argentine musician Luis Alberto Spinetta referenced the painting in "Cantata de puentes amarillos" (Spanish for "Cantata of yellow bridges"), one of his most celebrated songs. Spinetta came to van Gogh's letters to Theo through his reading of the essay Van Gogh, The Man Suicided by Antonin Artaud. The track is the centerpiece of his 1973 record Artaud , named after the poet, which is generally considered the greatest album in Argentine rock history. [32]

The painting is also featured on the 30th season of The Amazing Race, where as part of the detour challenge, teams will find this painting, which in reality is an elaborate sliding puzzle, requiring them to slide elements of the painting in a specific sequence in order to unlock the easel and retrieve their clue inside.

The Langlois Bridge at Arles with Women Washing is one of numerous van Gogh paintings visited by the unnamed dreamer in Akira Kurosawa’s film ‘’Dreams’’. Martin Scorsese appears as van Gogh himself, having recently crossed over the bridge to paint a field of wheat.

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>The Red Vineyard</i> 1888 painting by Vincent van Gogh

The Red Vineyards near Arles is an oil painting by the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, executed on a privately primed Toile de 30 piece of burlap in early November 1888. It depicts workers in a vineyard, and it is the only painting known by name that Van Gogh sold in his lifetime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wallraf–Richartz Museum</span> Museum in Cologne, Germany

The Wallraf–Richartz Museum is an art museum in Cologne, Germany, with a collection of fine art from the medieval period to the early twentieth century. It is one of the three major museums in Cologne.

Vincent van Gogh lived during the Impressionist era. With the development of photography, painters and artists turned to conveying the feeling and ideas behind people, places, and things rather than trying to imitate their physical forms. Impressionist artists did this by emphasizing certain hues, using vigorous brushstrokes, and paying attention to highlighting. Vincent van Gogh implemented this ideology to pursue his goal of depicting his own feelings toward and involvement with his subjects. Van Gogh's portraiture focuses on color and brushstrokes to demonstrate their inner qualities and Van Gogh's own relationship with them.

<i>Flowering Orchards</i> Series of paintings by Vincent van Gogh

Flowering Orchards is a series of paintings which Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh executed in Arles, in southern France in the spring of 1888. Van Gogh arrived in Arles in February 1888 in a snowstorm; within two weeks the weather changed and the fruit trees were in blossom. Appreciating the symbolism of rebirth, Van Gogh worked with optimism and zeal on about fourteen paintings of flowering trees in the early spring. He also made paintings of flowering trees in Saint-Rémy the following year, in 1889.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Langlois Bridge</span>

Langlois Bridge was a double-beam drawbridge in Arles, France, which was the subject of several paintings by Vincent van Gogh in 1888. Being one of eleven drawbridges built by a Dutch engineer along the channel from Arles to Port-de-Bouc, this bridge might have reminded the artist of his homeland.

<i>Landscape with Snow</i> Painting by Vincent van Gogh

Landscape with Snow is a painting by Vincent van Gogh in 1888, believed to be one of the first paintings that he made in Arles. It is one of at least ten 1882 to 1889 oil and watercolor van Gogh paintings of a snowy landscape. The painting reflects the La Crau plains set against Montmajour and hills along the horizon.

<i>La Mousmé</i> 1888 painting by Vincent van Gogh

La Mousmé also known as La Mousmé, Sitting in a Cane Chair, Half-Figure was painted by Vincent van Gogh in 1888 while living in Arles, which van Gogh dubbed "the Japan of the south". Retreating from the city, he hoped that his time in Arles would evoke in his work the simple, yet dramatic expression of Japanese art.

<i>Farmhouse in Provence</i> Painting by Vincent van Gogh

Farmhouse in Provence, also known as Entrance Gate to a Farm with Haystacks, is an oil-on-canvas painting produced in 1888 by Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh in Arles, Provence, at the height of his career. Partially due to having been inspired by painter Adolphe Monticelli, Van Gogh sought the Provence region of France to further expand his painting skill and experience. Van Gogh used several pairs of complementary colors in the Farmhouse in Provence, the color contrast bringing an intensity to his work. The painting is owned by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

<i>Wheat Fields</i> Series of paintings by Vincent van Gogh

Wheat Fields is a series of dozens of paintings by Dutch Post-Impressionist artist Vincent van Gogh, borne out of his religious studies and sermons, connection to nature, appreciation of manual laborers and desire to provide a means of offering comfort to others. The wheat field works demonstrate his progression as an artist from the drab Wheat Sheaves made in 1885 in the Netherlands to the colorful and dramatic 1888–1890 paintings from Arles, Saint-Rémy and Auvers-sur-Oise in rural France.

<i>Butterflies</i> (Van Gogh series)

Butterflies is a series of paintings made by Vincent van Gogh in 1889 and 1890. Van Gogh made at least four paintings of butterflies and one of a moth. The metamorphosis of the caterpillar into a butterfly was symbolic to Van Gogh of men and women's capability for transformation.

<i>Almond Blossoms</i> Group of paintings by Vincent van Gogh

Almond Blossoms is a group of several paintings made in 1888 and 1890 by Vincent van Gogh in Arles and Saint-Rémy, southern France of blossoming almond trees. Flowering trees were special to van Gogh. They represented awakening and hope. He enjoyed them aesthetically and found joy in painting flowering trees. The works reflect the influence of Impressionism, Divisionism, and Japanese woodcuts. Almond Blossom was made to celebrate the birth of his nephew and namesake, son of his brother Theo and sister-in-law Jo.

<i>Portrait of the Artists Mother</i> (Van Gogh) 1888 painting by Vincent van Gogh

Portrait of Artist's Mother is an 1888 painting by Vincent van Gogh of his mother, Anna Carbentus van Gogh, drawn from a black-and-white photograph. Van Gogh's introduction to art was through his mother, herself an amateur artist. After years of strained relations with family members, Van Gogh excitedly shared some of his works he thought his mother would appreciate most, of flowers and natural settings. In this painting, Van Gogh captures his mother's dignified and proud nature. It was painted at almost the same time, and with a very similar palette of colours and pose as his Self Portrait

<i>Drawbridge in Nieuw-Amsterdam</i> Painting by Vincent van Gogh

Drawbridge in Nieuw-Amsterdam is a watercolor created in November 1883 by Vincent van Gogh in Drente, The Netherlands.

<i>The Zouave</i> Subject of several paintings by Vincent van Gogh

The Zouave is the subject of several sketches and paintings made by Vincent van Gogh in Arles, France in June of 1888. The pieces range from close up oil painting portraits of the Zouave to full-body drawings. Van Gogh produced this collection of pieces during the period he spent in southern France, which many scholars regard as the zenith of his artistic career.Van Gogh nonetheless expressed frustration about his work during this time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Van Gogh's family in his art</span> Appearances of Vincent van Goghs family in his art

Van Gogh's family in his art refers to works that Vincent van Gogh made for or about Van Gogh family members. In 1881, Vincent drew a portrait of his grandfather, also named Vincent van Gogh, and his sister Wil. While living in Nuenen, Vincent memorialized his father in Still Life with Bible following his death in 1885. There he also made many paintings and drawings in 1884 and 1885 of his parents' vicarage, its garden and the church. At the height of his career in Arles he made Portrait of the Artist's Mother, Memory of the Garden at Etten of his mother and sister and Novel Reader, which is thought to be of his sister, Wil.

<i>Saintes-Maries</i> (Van Gogh series) Painting series by Vincent van Gogh

The French town of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer is the subject of a series of paintings that Vincent van Gogh made in June 1888. When Van Gogh lived in Arles, he took a week-long trip to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer on the Mediterranean Sea, where he made several paintings of the seascape and town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Still life paintings by Vincent van Gogh (Paris)</span>

Still life paintings by Vincent van Gogh (Paris) is the subject of many drawings, sketches and paintings by Vincent van Gogh in 1886 and 1887 after he moved to Montmartre in Paris from the Netherlands. While in Paris, Van Gogh transformed the subjects, color and techniques that he used in creating still life paintings.

<i>Meadows near Rijswijk and the Schenkweg</i>

Meadows near Rijswijk and the Schenkweg is a watercolor by the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh that he made in January 1882, shortly after taking up residence in The Hague.

<i>Boats du Rhône</i> Series of artworks by Vincent van Gogh

Boats du Rhône is a series of two sketches and three oil paintings, listed below, created by the Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh while living in Arles, France, during August, 1888.

References

  1. ↑ Morton, 177-178.
  2. 1 2 Arfin, 37.
  3. ↑ Shoham, 142.
  4. ↑ "Effects of the Sun in Provence" (PDF). National Gallery of Art Picturing France (1830-1900). Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art: 131 (12 of pdf). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-05-12. Retrieved 2011-04-28.
  5. ↑ Silverman, 60—61.
  6. ↑ Silverman, 69.
  7. ↑ Silverman, 59.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "The Langlois Bridge". Permanent Collection. Van Gogh Museum. 2005–2011. Retrieved 2011-04-28' See 'Ropes' and 'Something Funny' sections of the page for more information.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  9. ↑ Rimeur, L (December 1981 – March 1982). "Note sur le canal d'Arles à Bouc" (PDF). Bulletin des Amis du Vieil Arles (in French). pp. 43–44. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-09-29. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
  10. ↑ "Canal d'Arles à Bouc". Projet Babel (in French). Retrieved 2011-05-14.
  11. 1 2 Harrison, R, ed. (2011). "Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, Arles, c. 14 March 1888". Van Gogh Letters. WebExhibits. Retrieved 2011-04-28.
  12. 1 2 3 Harrison, R, ed. (2011). "Vincent van Gogh. Letter to Theo van Gogh. Written c. 2 April 1888 in Arles". Van Gogh Letters. WebExhibits. Retrieved 2011-04-28.
  13. 1 2 Silverman, 69-74.
  14. ↑ Silverman, 62, 63, 74, 75
  15. 1 2 Mancoff, 61.
  16. ↑ Silverman, 61.
  17. ↑ Maurer, 63.
  18. ↑ Hulsker (1986), 308
  19. ↑ Fell, 64.
  20. 1 2 Maurer, 64.
  21. ↑ Silverman, 74.
  22. ↑ Silverman, 71-75
  23. ↑ "Detail, The Langlois Bridge". Permanent Collection. Van Gogh Museum. 2005–2011. Archived from the original on 2012-09-15. Retrieved 2011-04-28.
  24. ↑ Hulsker, 308.
  25. ↑ Silverman, 71.
  26. ↑ Naifeh, Smith (2011), 578
  27. ↑ "Van Gogh and Tersteeg". Permanent Collection. Van Gogh Museum. Archived from the original on 2012-09-15. Retrieved 2011-04-28.
  28. ↑ Perkowitz, 121.
  29. ↑ "Langlois Bridge at Arles, The". Van Gogh Paintings. Van Gogh Gallery. 2011. Retrieved 2011-04-28.
  30. ↑ Silverman, 61-64.
  31. ↑ "Langlos Bridge, Letters of Note" . Retrieved 2011-05-13.
  32. ↑ Gazzo, Walter (2013-08-17). "Artaud, Spinetta y 40 años de belleza" (in Spanish). MDZ Online. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2018-01-06.

Bibliography

43°39′25″N4°37′16″E / 43.656947°N 4.621028°E / 43.656947; 4.621028

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.