Les Alyscamps

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Les Alyscamps
Vincent van Gogh, 1888
Oil on canvas
92 × 73.5 cm
Private collection
Main article: Vincent van Gogh

Les Alyscamps (or 'L'Allée des Alyscamps') is a pair of paintings ("pendants") by Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh. Painted in 1888 in Arles, France, it depicts autumnal scenes in the Alyscamps, an ancient Roman necropolis in Arles which is lined with poplars and stone sarcophagi. It was one of the first works that van Gogh painted following the arrival there of his friend and mentor Paul Gauguin. The two artists painted some identical subjects to compare their work with each other and chose the site of the Alyscamps to paint and compare. They produced several works, including this painting, van Gogh's Falling Autumn Leaves (Les Alyscamps) and Gauguin's Alyscamps.

[edit] Auction

The painting was last auctioned in November 2003, selling for $11,767,500 at an auction in New York despite predictions that it might fetch up to $18 million.

[edit] Gauguin's parallel painting

For his painting of Les Alyscamps, painted on the same day as Van Gogh's, Gauguin chose a different vantage point from Van Gogh, and excluded any reference to ancient sarcophagi.

[edit] References

  • Martin Gayford, The Yellow House: Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Nine Turbulent Weeks in Arles, Fig Tree, Penguin, 2006. ISBN 0-670-91497-5.
Vincent van Gogh
General: The Artist | Chronology | Medical condition | Posthumous fame | Post-Impressionism | Theo van Gogh | Paul Gachet | Paul Gauguin | Van Gogh Museum | Cultural depictions

Groups and series of works: The Décoration for the Yellow House | The Roulin Family | Display at Les XX, 1890 | Auvers size 30 canvases | Auvers Double-squares and Squares
Paintings: List of works | Self-Portraits | Sunflowers | The Potato Eaters | Bedroom in Arles | The Red Vineyard | The Night Café | The Yellow House | The Starry Night | Irises | The Church at Auvers | Wheat Field with Crows | Cafe Terrace at Night | Portrait of Dr. Gachet | Thatched Cottages by a Hill