In this artwork, how is the Arles discussed?
At the time that Van Gogh painted Farmhouse in Provence, he was 35 years old. Living in Arles, in southern France, he was at the height of his career, producing some of his best work, such as fields, farmhouses and people of the Arles, Nîmes and Avignon area.The area was quite different from what he'd known in the Netherlands and Paris. The climate was hot and dry. People had dark hair and skin and spoke a different language than Parisian French. The colors were vivid. The terrain varied from plains to mountains. Here Van Gogh found a "brilliance and light that would wash out details and simplify forms, reducing the world around him to the sort of pattern he admired in Japanese woodblocks" and where the "effect of the sun would strengthen the outlines of composition and reduce nuances of color to a few vivid contrasts."A prolific time, in less than 444 days Vincent made about 100 drawings and produced more than 200 paintings  Yet, he still wrote more than 200 letters. He described
a series of seven studies of wheat fields as, "landscapes, yellow—old gold—done
quickly, quickly, quickly, and in a hurry just like the harvester who is silent under the
blazing sun, intent only on the reaping."In a letter to his brother, Theo, he wrote, "Painting as it is now, promises to become more subtle—more like music and less like sculpture—and above all, it promises color."
Theo Arles Paris Netherlands Japanese woodblocks Provence