Vincent van Gogh's display at Les XX, 1890

Main article: Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh's display at Les XX, 1890, in Brussels is an important testament to the recognition he received amongst avant-garde peers during his own lifetime. Participation in the annual exhibition of Les XX was for members and by invitation only. Van Gogh's choice proves that he was going for more than a simple selection of paintings he considered superior, but that he was willing to provide a well reasoned summary of his years of work in Provence. Evidently this notion remained neglected, and even more: it was washed away by the scandal his works provoked. Then the same works were again shown at the annual exhibition of the Artistes Indépendants in Paris which offered space for an expansion of the display: this was done by Theo van Gogh, the brother of Vincent, who was suffering from long lasting mental problems.

Paintings included

In November 1889, Van Gogh selected six of his paintings, all size 30 canvases, to be displayed at Les XX, in 1890. On the back of the letter of invitation from Octave Maus, dated November 15, 1889, there is a pencil sketch^[1] that gives some hints for the display Van Gogh proposed, and for its artistic background. His reply to Maus, dated (?) November 20, 1889,^[2] supplied the titles later printed in the catalogue, but did not point out the arrangement he intended:

1. Tournesols - Sunflowers

2. Tournesols - Sunflowers

3. Le lierre - Ivy

4. Verger en fleurs (Arles) - Flowering Orchard (Arles)

5. Champ de blé; soleil levant (Saint-Remy) - Wheat Field, Sunrise (Saint-Rémy)

6. La Vigne rouge (Mont-Major) (!) - Red Vineyard (Mont-Majour)

Fortunately, the missing information can easily be compiled from other parts of Van Gogh's correspondence; there is now agreement that Van Gogh's exhibit can be reconstructed in the order of paintings below:


Flowering Orchard (Arles, Spring 1889). Neue Pinakothek, Munich, Germany.	Sunflowers (Arles, August 1888). National Gallery, London, United Kingdom.	Ivy (Saint-Rémy 1889). Present whereabouts unknown.	Sunflowers (Arles, August 1888). Neue Pinakothek, Munich, Germany.	Wheat Field, Sunrise (Saint-Rémy, 1889). Private collection.

Red Vineyard (Mont-Majour) (Arles, November 1888). Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts

Ivy, the center piece of Van Gogh's arrangement, has been lost without trace since World War II; Hermann Göring is the last person photographed (by Hans Hoffmann) with this canvas while it was stored, together with other works of art confiscated from French Jewish collections, in the Jeu de Paume Galleries. Van Gogh indicated his two Sunflowers (size 30 canvases) were to be displayed either side of Ivy. To the left and right of this upright triptych, he wanted to place the Flowering Orchard and the Wheat Field at Sunrise. Finally, he indicated Red Vineyard was to be hung (at the top or) underneath this arrangement.

"Impressions of Provence"

The four landscapes depict traditional notions of the four seasons: flowering trees in spring, a shaded hiding place in the midst of ivy in summer, the vineyard harvest in autumn, and new wheat on the furrows in winter. In between the seasons were embedded the heraldic flowers of Provence — sunflowers, dear to the artistic and literary circles of the Félibres, the néo-provencal movement around Frédéric Mistral.

These seasonal links are set not only in subject matter, but — and from Van Gogh's point of view even more important — reinforced by the choice of colour. Each of the six paintings is dominated by one of the six primary colours (yellow, red, blue, and their complementaries orange, green, and violet). He uses yellow and orange in the two Sunflowers-versions, red in the vineyard, green in the ivy, blue in the orchard, and violet in the field. Thus, the full colour spectrum is manifested in this selection, which can consequently be read as a single entity, "a whole" (French: un tout).

Earlier this year, Van Gogh had already expressed his wish before returning to the North to summarise his "impressions of Provence".

Scandal and success

Red Vineyard (Mont-Majour) (Arles, November 1888). Sold to Anna Boch

The exhibition of Les XX opened January 18, running till February 23. Two days before the opening, Henry de Groux announced that his works would not be seen side by side with the "abominable Pot of Sunflowers by Monsieur Vincent or any other agent provocateur".^[3] At the opening dinner, De Groux once again attacked Van Gogh's paintings and called him

an ignoramus and a charlatan. At the other end of the table Lautrec suddenly bounced up, with his arms in the air, and shouted that it was an outrage to criticize so great an artist. De Groux retorted. Tumult. Seconds were appointed. Signac announced coldly that if Lautrec were killed he would assume the quarrel himself.^[4]

That same evening, Les XX expelled De Groux from their association; the next day he apologised and was allowed to resign. Thus the duel was averted, and Paul Signac was soon one of two supplementary members elected to Les XX.

One work of Van Gogh's exhibit was sold, The Red Vineyard.^[5] The buyer was Anna Boch,^[6] a painter and member of Les XX since its foundation and sister of Eugène Boch, who was also a painter and a friend ^[7] of Vincent van Gogh.

Altered exhibit at the Artistes Indépendants

The Artistes Indépendants, collaborating closely with Les XX in Brussels, were eager to present Van Gogh to the public in Paris in an even broader scale, and finally showed ten paintings in their 6th annual exhibition, March 20 through April 27, 1890:

832. Le cyprès. - The Cypres

833. Paysage montagneux en Provence. - Mountain landscape in Provence

834. Rue à Saint-Rémy. - Street in Saint-Rémy

835. Les Alpines. (!) - The Alpilles

836. Promenade à Arles. - Promenade in Arles

837. Mûrier en automne. - Mulberry tree in autumn

838. Sous-bois. - Underwoods

839. Lever de soleil en Provence. - Sunrise in Provence

840. Les Tournesols. - The Sunflowers

841. Verger d'oliviers en Provence. - Olive orchard in Provence

Evidently, the first part of Van Gogh's exhibit (832. - 837.) was now chosen by Theo, while the remainders from Brussels were added (838. - 841.) at the end of this selection, excluding one version of the Sunflowers (and The Red Vineyard sold in Brussels).

Again, Van Gogh exhibit was the clou of the show: Gauguin, Guillaumin and other colleagues proposed to exchange works;^[8] Duez sent his compliments; and Theo wrote to Vincent on April 23rd that Monet had said, "your pictures were the best of all in the exhibition".^[9]

Some of Van Gogh's paintings in the Artistes Indépendants show

838. Underwoods. Present whereabouts unknown.
839. Lever de soleil en Provence. Present whereabouts unknown.
840. Sunflowers (Arles, August 1888). National Gallery, London, United Kingdom.
840. Sunflowers (Arles, August 1888). Neue Pinakothek, Munich, Germany.
841. Verger d'oliviers en Provence. Neue Pinakothek, Munich, Germany.

Resources

Notes

↑ Roland Dorn 1988, ill. 7
↑ Letter 614b to Maus; see also Letter 614 to Theo.
↑ Madeleine Octave-Maus, p. 100; quoted by John Rewald, p. 346
↑ Octave Maus, quoted by John Rewald, p. 346-347
↑ More about the Red Vineyard Painting
↑ Anna Boch.com Website about the Woman that bought The Red Vineyard
↑ Eugene Boch friend (or even boyfriend ?) of Vincent van Gogh
↑ Letters GAC 40 from Gauguin to Van Gogh, April 1890 (?) (Paul Gauguin: 45 Letters, ed. Douglas Cooper, The Hague 1983, p. 304-311 ISBN 90-12-03899-5), Letter T29 from Theo to Vincent, 19 March 1890, and Letter 630 from Vincent to Theo, 1 May 1890
↑ Letter T32 from Theo to Vincent, 23 April 1890

References

Dorn, Roland: Vincent van Gogh's Concept of "Décoration", Vincent van Gogh International Symposium, Tokyo, October 17, 18, 19, 1985, Tokyo 1988, pp. 375–403 (in English and Japanese)
Octave Maus, Madeleine: Trente années de l'lutte pour l'art, Librairie L'Oiseau bleau, Bruxelles 1926; reprinted by Éditions Lebeer Hossmann, Bruxelles 1980
Rewald, John: Post-Impressionism: From van Gogh to Gauguin, revised edition, Secker & Warburg, London 1978, pp. 346–347

Vincent van Gogh

General	Biography Chronology Health Death Posthumous fame Cultural depictions List of works Post-Impressionism Auberge Ravoux The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

Family	Theo van Gogh Wil van Gogh Johanna van Gogh-Bonger Andries Bonger Theo van Gogh (film director) Anton Mauve Johannes Stricker

Friends	Anthon van Rappard Paul Gachet Paul Gauguin Émile Bernard John Peter Russell Eugène Boch Anna Boch Agostina Segatori

Groups of works	Self portraits Portraits Early works Lost early works Sien Peasant Character Studies Cottages Van Gogh's family in his art Montmartre Le Moulin de la Galette Asnières Seine Wheat Fields Flowering Orchards Almond Blossoms Langlois Bridge at Arles Saintes-Maries Paintings of Children Décoration for the Yellow House The Roulin Family Hospital in Arles Butterflies Saint-Paul Asylum, Saint-Rémy The Enclosed Wheat Field at Saint-Rémy Trees and Undergrowth Copies by Vincent van Gogh Olive Trees Display at Les XX, 1890 Auvers size 30 canvases Auvers Double-squares and Squares Japonaiserie Sunflowers Still life paintings by Vincent van Gogh (Netherlands) Still life paintings by Vincent van Gogh (Paris) Meadows near Rijswijk and the Schenkweg

Paintings	The 'Laakmolen' near The Hague Girl in White in the Woods Lying Cow Farmhouse Among Trees Bulb Fields Drawbridge in Nieuw-Amsterdam Old Church Tower at Nuenen Cart with Black Ox Cart with Red and White Ox Avenue of Poplars in Autumn Still Life with Straw Hat The Potato Eaters Skull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette Poppy Flowers Wheat Field with a Lark View of Paris from Vincent's Room in the Rue Lepic Portrait of Père Tanguy A Woman Walking in a Garden Agostina Segatori Sitting in the Café du Tambourin Landscape with Snow La Mousmé The Night Café The Yellow House Cafe Terrace at Night Starry Night Over the Rhone Portrait of the Artist's Mother Bedroom in Arles Falling Autumn Leaves L'Arlésienne The Red Vineyard Memory of the Garden at Etten (Ladies of Arles) Les Arènes Interior of a Restaurant in Arles A Lane near Arles View of Arles, Flowering Orchards Arles: View from the Wheat Fields Sunset at Montmajour Crab on its Back Two Crabs Irises The Starry Night Self-portrait (1889) A Meadow in the Mountains: Le Mas de Saint-Paul Enclosed Field with Peasant Green Wheat Field with Cypress Ivy Farmhouse in Provence Road with Cypress and Star At Eternity's Gate Thatched Cottages and Houses Portrait of Dr. Gachet Doctor Gachet's Garden in Auvers Houses at Auvers White House at Night Girl in White The Church at Auvers Daubigny's Garden Farms near Auvers Blossoming Chestnut Branches View of the Asylum and Chapel of Saint-Rémy Wheatfield with Crows Tree Roots

Other works	Drawings, water-colours and prints 87 Hackford Road Sorrow

Public collections	Van Gogh Museum Kröller-Müller Museum Musée d'Orsay

Portrayals	Lust for Life novel film Van Gogh (1991 film) Van Gogh (1948 film) Vincent Vincent & Theo Vincent in Brixton "Vincent and the Doctor"

Cataloguers	Jacob Baart de la Faille (1928 & 1970; F) Jan Hulsker (1978, revised 1989; JH)

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