HIS FORMER HOME? IT’S NOW A ROUNDABOUT
THE most poignant Van Gogh location in Arles no longer exists. On June 25, 1944, Allied bombers destroyed the Yellow House, the four-room home and studio in Place Lamartine that the painter occupied for much of 1888.
During Van Gogh’s time, Place Lamartine was given over to public gardens – today it is a large roundabout edged with lawns and trees. Directly opposite the 15th Century Porte de la Cavalerie gate in the city walls, at the junction with Avenue de Stalingrad, you will find an information plaque on the spot where, in September 1888, Van Gogh painted one of his most revered works, The Yellow House (The Street).
The painter hoped to establish an artists’ colony there, but he failed miserably; in the end only Paul Gauguin came and Van Gogh suffered the trauma he is still remembered for – cutting off his own ear. His time here, however, was extraordinarily fruitful, producing Chair, Still Life With 12 Sunflowers and a portrait of postman Joseph Roulin, who lived near Avenue de Stalingrad. The area may now be only a roundabout, but it is the most important roundabout in art.