Van Gogh in

Boulevard Mirabeau

Vincent painted Saint-Rémy’s main street twice. The Cours Est was renamed Boulevard Mirabeau in 1891. His compositions were a departure from the others he made in Saint-Rémy; he generally preferred to stay within the asylum’s walls or escape into the stillness of the breath-taking countryside. On his first trip to the village, in early June 1889, Vincent suddenly became unwell. He wrote to his brother Theo:

“I once went into the village — accompanied, at that. The mere sight of the people and things had an effect on me as if I was going to faint, and I felt very ill.” Read the complete letter

Months later, in early December, he felt well enough to go back to the village and paint Rue Menders. He wrote:

“The last study I did is a view of the village – where people were at work – under enormous plane trees – repairing the pavements. So there are piles of sand, stones and the gigantic tree-trunks – the yellowing foliage, and here and there glimpses of a house-front and little figures.” Read the complete letter

After the first study, The Road Menders, he painted the subject again; the second work is more subdued but with more detail and bears the same title as the first.