Two Lovers, Arles
Two Lovers, Arles
"At the top of this letter I’m sending you a little croquis of a study that’s preoccupying me as to how to make something of it — sailors coming back with their sweethearts towards the town, which projects the strange silhouette of its drawbridge against a huge yellow sun."
Currently Located:
Details:
Painting Date
22nd of March 1888Description:
This fragment (32.5 x 23 cm) of a painting, also referred to as the Walking Couple, sold for over 7 million dollars at Sotheby’s New York in May 2013 to a private party. It is about 9 x 13 inches, just a bit larger than a piece of notebook paper.
It was part of a canvas depicting the Langlois Bridge and a road along the canal it crossed. Vincent felt he had overworked the piece in the studio in the weeks following his original effort captured at the drawbridge site and all but the scrap of lovers walking on the path was either reused or discarded and lost forever.
Shown in Compare One is the fragment “Two Lovers, Arles” next to a sketch of the painting Vincent drew for his friend Emile Bernard in a letter. Included as a Related Item is “The Langlois Bridge with Women Washing“, his first depiction of the scene.
Vincent paints this location 4 times in oil, once in watercolor and sketches and draws it another 4 times. His last rendition of the scene is generally considered to be at the masterpiece level. He will change color combinations and omit or include human figures in following repetitions of the setting he creates on paper and canvas.
**********************************************************************************************
“At the top of this letter I’m sending you a little croquis of a study that’s preoccupying me as to how to make something of it — sailors coming back with their sweethearts towards the town, which projects the strange silhouette of its drawbridge against a huge yellow sun.”
To Emile Bernard. Arles, Sunday, 18 March 1888
*********************************************************************************************
To Theo. Arles, Wednesday, 21 or Thursday, 22 March 1888
***********************************************************************************************
“Had some trouble with the sunset with figures and a bridge that I was talking to Bernard about. As the bad weather prevented me from working on the spot, I completely worked this study to death trying to finish it at home.
To Theo. Arles, on or about Sunday, 25 March 1888
************************************************************************************************
An interesting take on the fragment
************************************************************************************************
Painting, Oil on Canvas – 32.5 x 23 cm – Fragment
Arles: March 22, 1888
Private collection
F: 544, JH: 1369
Start Discussion