Van Gogh at the Seaside – Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer At the end of May 1888, van Gogh took a trip from Arles to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, a fishing village on the Mediterranean coast. He painted here two seascapes (F 415; JH 1452 and F 417; 1453) and a view of the village (F 416; 1447) and made a number of drawings that he based paintings on once he was back in his studio. Van Gogh travelled by stage-coach across the Camargue, which reminded him of Holland, to the seaside resort. The village of Saintes-Maries was was famous for its fortified cathedral, built like a ship, the curious design of the thatched roofs of its cottages, and its fishing fleet. Van Gogh recorded all of these. But the novel opportunities of the place were the sea and the colorful boats. In the years 1881-83 van Gogh had often visited Scheveningen, a fishing village and holiday resort on the North Sea, a few miles from The Hague. There he drew the great fishing smacks drawn up on the beach, in the manner of Hague School painters such as Henrik Mesdag and Anton Mauve. Van Goghs excursus into marine painting in June 1888 recalls their pictures and his own early essays in this genre. In a letter about this trip to the seaside he explicitly compares Les Saintes-Maries with Dutch seascape; it was different only in the greater brilliance of its colors. Van Goghs famous Fishing Boats on the Beach at Saintes-Maries (F 413, JH 1460) is a reworking in paint of a sketch done on the spot. This painting is one of the painters most accomplished attempts to establish a harmony of motif and color. The motif of small boats drawn up on the beach also occurs in the work of Monet in the 1880s.
Posted on: Sat, 09 Aug 2014 23:45:36 +0000
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