On 25 July 1875, Vincent visited the village of Ville d’Avray, southwest of Paris, with fellow painter Frans Soek (?–1879) and Soek’s family. In 1855–56, Camille Corot (1796–1875) had painted four frescoes in the transept of the village church: Adam and Eve Chased from Paradise, Baptism of Christ by St John, Christ in the Garden of Olives and Magdalen at …
Vincent probably visited the eighth Impressionist exhibition, which took place from 15 May to 15 June 1886 in a gallery at 1 Rue Lafitte. The art on show included works by Mary Cassatt, Armand Guillaumin, Camille and Lucien Picasso, Paul Signac and Georges Seurat. Vincent knew Impressionism mainly through hearsay before he moved to Paris but living in the French …
Vincent probably visited the second Exposition de la Société des Artistes Indépendants. Although he did not explicitly mention the exhibition in his letters, we can assume he probably did see it, since he was deeply interested in contemporary art and it was one of the major shows of the day. Other important Impressionist exhibitions he likely frequented were the Ve …
The writers Félix Fénéon (1861–1944) and Edouard Dujardin (1861–1949) regularly organised small art exhibitions in the offices of the political, literary and artistic journal La Revue Indépendante at 11 Chaussée d’Antin. In December 1887, Vincent probably visited one featuring work by Louis Anquetin, Camille Pissarro and Georges Seurat. In September 1888, when Vincent was living in Arles, his brother Theo …
The Théâtre Libre opened its doors at 96 Rue Blanche in Paris on 30 March 1887. Founded by André Antoine, it featured innovative plays. Famous artists such as Édouard Vuillard, Paul Signac and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec designed posters for the performances. Antoine often allowed artists to exhibit their work in the theatre’s rehearsal room. They included Georges Seurat, Paul Signac …
In 1875, Vincent attended the Temple de L’Etoile on Avenue de la Grande Armée, near the Arc de Triomphe. Eugène Bersier (1831–1889) was the church’s pastor, and his sermons left an impression on Vincent, who mentioned them in two letters in 1876. Bersier must have been well-known, as Vincent’s mother advised Theo to attend one of his services in 1878.
On 30 May 1875, soon after the death of the painter Camille Corot (1796–1875), Vincent visited the École Nationale des Beaux Arts to see a retrospective exhibition of Corot’s art. The show featured 226 works; Vincent singled out the painting Christ on the mount of Olives, writing that he was grateful that Corot had created the work. Years later, in …
Hennequin’s shop on Avenue de Clichy sold canvases, paints and brushes. Many Impressionists bought materials there. Vincent was also a customer; the shop’s stamp is visible on the reverse of two of his paintings: Self-Portrait, a work on cardboard from 1887, and Basket of Apples. The store remained in business until late 2010.
The English-run art supply store Hardy-Alan had a shop in Paris and sold paint, canvases and easels, and Vincent occasionally bought materials there. The shop’s mark was visible on the reverse of Vase of Cornflowers, Daisies, Poppies and White Carnations until the painting was relined during a restoration. Artists including Auguste Renoir, Henri Fantin-Latour and James McNeill Whistler also patronised …
A. Fermine sold easels and other art supplies, such as canvases. The shop was active from 1876 to 1911. Vincent painted Portrait of Agostina Segatori on a canvas from Fermine, according to a stamp on the reverse.
Dubus was an art supply shop where Vincent occasionally went. Vincent painted the 1887 work Vase with Lilacs, Daisies and Anemones on a canvas from Dubus, according to a mark on its reverse. Other artists, such as Gustave Caillebotte and Claude Monet, also patronised the shop.
The framer Jean-Marie Boyer (1850–after 1906) ran a shop on Rue Fontaine in Paris. On 3 April 1888, Vincent informed his brother Theo in a letter from Arles that Boyer still had one of his lithographs; he was referring to At Eternity’s Gate. When he lived in Paris, Vincent may have gone to Boyer to have his work framed, or …
After Vincent arrived in Paris in February 1886, he worked mostly in and around his own neighbourhood of Montmartre but this changed in the spring of 1887. From then on, he frequently went to paint and draw in Asnières, a village on the banks of the Seine six kilometres north of Paris that was a popular spot for day trips …
Correspondence between Vincent and his brother Theo reveals that in the autumn of 1888 the art dealers Bague et Cie showed an interest in selling some of his recent work. The business was owned by Athnase Bague (1843–1893) and Maurice Gouvet, who dealt in art from the Barbizon and Hague schools and were therefore competitors of Boussod, Valadon & Cie. …
Rey et Perrot was a shop selling canvases and paint, which Vincent probably patronised occasionally. It was only a few minutes’ walk from his apartment on Rue Lepic. Vincent’s paintings Portrait of a Woman and The Moulin Le Blute-Finl bear Rey et Perrot’s marks on their reverse.
In December 1887, Paul Gauguin wrote that he had left a painting for Vincent with the framer Pierre Cluzel in Rue Fontaine Saint-Georges. Gauguin had been to an exhibition in Restaurant du Chalet that Vincent had organised in November–December 1887, and afterward, the two artists had agreed to swap work. Vincent traded two paintings of blown-up sunflowers for Gauguin’s On …
The shop Hofer frères in the street Grand-Augustins sold all kinds of artist’s supplies such as canvases and paint, which they often produced themselves. They also did restorations. The canvases of Vincent’s paintings Sunset in Montmartre and The Mill Le Blute-Fin bear the Hofer frères mark on the back.
François Joseph Delarebeyrette (1825–1886) was the main Parisian dealer of works by Adolphe Monticelli (1824–1886). When Vincent lived in Paris, the late Delarebeyrette’s wife, Eveline, and their son Gabriel had taken over the gallery. In 1886, their inventory numbered 40 works by Monticelli, who heavily influenced Vincent’s perception of colour. Vincent must have visited the gallery multiple times, and he …
Vincent took the initiative of organising an exhibition of art by Louis Anquetin, Émile Bernard, Arnold Hendrik Koning, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and of his own work at the Grand Bouillon-Restaurant du Chalet. The popular restaurant on Avenue de Clichy served simple, inexpensive meals, and Vincent often went there in 1887. All the participants were what Vincent referred to as artists …
Georges Petit (1856-1920) was one of the most important art dealers in Paris when Vincent lived there. The young Petit had started buying artworks by the Impressionists almost immediately after inheriting his father’s business in 1877, but he also dealt in more classical painting. He thus competed with Durand-Ruel and Boussod, Valadon & Cie. Petit organised not only sales exhibitions …
In Paris, Vincent often bought his canvases at Tasset et Lhôte, a small art supply shop that was also used by artists such as Paul Signac, Alfred Sisley and Edgar Degas. Vincent especially liked the shop’s prepared canvases and continued to order them after moving to Arles. He also bought his paints there. Letters with his needs were sent to …
Vincent, his brother Theo and Theo’s close friend (and later brother-in-law) Andries Bonger dined together almost every day at Chez Bataille, a cheap eatery in Montmartre. There, Vincent made the drawing Window in the Bataille Restaurant. It was customary for single men to eat in restaurants at the time and doing so was easy and cheap.
Vincent occasionally bought cardboard from Pignel-Dupont’s paint and wallpaper shop near the brothers’ apartment on Rue Lepic. Though he never mentioned the shop in his letters, eight of his Paris paintings and studies on cardboard bear its label on the reverse.
Le Tambourin was a restaurant and cabaret at 62 Boulevard de Clichy in Montmartre that was popular with artists. It was run by the Italian Agostina Segatori (1841–1910), with whom Vincent had an affair. He gave her floral still lifes to display in the café, hoping people would buy them, but no one did. When Le Tambourin went bankrupt in …