Serenity. This was what Vincent Van Gogh was looking for when he got off the train in Auvers-sur-Oise on May 20, 1890 with four paintings under his arm. Dissatisfied in love, consumed by the absinthe that he sips in the evenings with Toulouse-Lautrec in the cabarets of Montmartre, he fights against despair so as not to succumb to madness. In Arles he cut off his ear due to his attacks of dementia, and in the Saint-Rémy-de-Provence asylum he attempted suicide by swallowing turpentine oil and paint. He is destroyed and yet looking for new momentum. He decided to go back north, first to Paris and to his dear Théo, his brother and confidante, a painting dealer on whom he depends for 200 francs a month. Then he will return home to the Netherlands. He is sure that he will capture the light of the landscape of his childhood there.
The choice of this stopover in Auvers-sur-Oise is due to the presence of Dr. Gachet can be traced back to the village, homeopath and Sunday painter, feverish and avant-garde collector, friend of Cézanne, Renoir and Pissarro, whom he welcomes into a workshop in his converted attic. “A curious figure, 60 years old, widowed, eccentric, whose house is full of old black, black, black things…” said Van Gogh. When the doctor sees his arrival, he makes his diagnosis: Vincent suffers from “syphilimania”, which means he lives in panic fear of contracting syphilis. Gachet’s remedy: neither potion nor pill. Work, nothing but work!
At the Saint-Aubin inn, which the good doctor recommends but which still costs 6 francs per day, Vincent prefers the Ravoux inn: meals in a 7 square meter room in the attic for 3.50 francs. Spartan life governed by sunrise and sunset. “Auvers is very beautiful, including a lot of old thatch, which is becoming increasingly rare. […] Really, it is really beautiful, it is a characteristic and picturesque landscape. » He calms down: “I still believe that I was mainly infected with a disease from the south and that returning here will be enough to eliminate all of this.” […] There is a lot of well-being in the air. » Seduced by “a calm like Puvis de Chavannes,” he followed the doctor’s recommendation and painted at a dizzying pace – 74 canvases in seventy days.
The black crows of sorrow now roam the summer-colored fields
“Tree Roots,” the last unfinished painting. Painted on July 27, 1890. One of the “models” hung on the blonde limestones typical of the region. The postcard dates from the beginning of the 20th century, a few years after the painting was created. © Philippe Petit
In Auvers-sur-Oise there are no distorted faces, no dazzling sunflowers, no disturbing starry nights or irises moving like snakes. “I don’t see, or think I see, any factories, but beautiful greenery in abundance and in good condition. » Van Gogh is “completely immersed in the endless expanse of wheat fields in front of the hills as big as the sea.” The church, the inn, the gardens… In the morning he goes “into the landscape” within a limited radius. In the afternoon he retouches his pictures in a room made available to the artists by the Ravoux family, avoiding anything that could distract him from his fantastic creativity. “What fascinates me most, more than anything else in my profession, is modern portraiture, I search for it through color. » Experience Dr. Gachet creating a symphony of blues. The painting reached a record price of $82.5 million at Christie’s on May 15, 1990. During his lifetime, Van Gogh only managed to sell “The Red Vines,” which the Belgian artist Anna Boch had purchased for 400 francs. Enough to survive almost two months without Theo’s help. However, Van Gogh is aware of the importance of his works and wants to live up to his reputation. During the Salon des Indépendants, Monet actually praised him to Théo, the critic Gabriel-Albert Aurier spoke of his talent and curious mind in the magazine “Mercure de France”.
Despite this increasing fame, in the eyes of the general public, his “paint crusts” are no more worth than a crust of bread. The proof: To thank the intern Félix Rey for his care at the Arles hospital, Van Gogh painted his portrait and gave it to him. Deemed “implausible and ridiculous” by the Rey family, the painting will be used to fill a hole in the chicken coop for a while. Whatever. “I think one day I’ll find a way to have my own exhibition in a cafe,” vows Vincent. Visionary: “Painting promises to become more subtle, more music and less sculpture.” »
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June passes and the work follows one another. At the peak of his maturity, Van Gogh plans to rent a house and dreams of welcoming his brother Théo and his wife Jo, who has just given birth to a small child named Vincent. Everything seems to be going well. In reality, the cursed artist is living in his final days. The poison of fear resurfaces when Théo experiences professional difficulties and shows the first symptoms of syphilis. As for Jo, she doesn’t have enough milk to feed her child, who spends his time crying. Overwhelmed by these family tensions, Van Gogh fell out with Dr. Gachet and got annoyed: “He’s sicker than me, or let’s say just as sick!” »
The oversensitive person becomes darker, his images become depopulated. The black crows of sorrow now roam the summer-colored fields. Tormented skies, extreme loneliness. “I’m trying to do the best I can, but I won’t hide from you that I can hardly rely on always having the necessary health,” he wrote to his brother on July 2nd.
Sunday, July 27, 1890. As always, Vincent sets off early in the morning with his painting equipment on his back. He stops in the Grande Rue and places his easel in front of the pile of roots that had previously served as a stepping stone, but in which he sees “something of the fight for life.” He comes home for lunch and immediately leaves to finish his work. It will be his ultimate masterpiece. It’s the first time he’s not at the inn for dinner since he arrived two months ago. The Ravoux are worried. He reappears at nightfall and goes straight to his room, his hand pressed to his chest. Monsieur Ravoux follows him and, seeing him curled up on his bed, asks him if he is sick. Van Gogh lifts up his shirt, shows the hole of a bullet lodged very close to his heart, and explains that he wanted to kill himself. He then asks for his pipe to be filled. They sent for Dr. Gachet, who had gone fishing that day. The doctor cleans the wound and finds that it is impossible to pull out the bullet. Théo runs towards him and cuddles up to his eldest. Van Gogh will take two days to die. In his pocket we find a letter: “Well, my job, I risk my life and my mind is half lost.” » Before closing his eyes, he begs his brother: “Keep what seems passable to you and destroy everything other.” “
Théo tries to organize the funeral in the church of Auvers, but encounters the refusal of the priest, who does not want to lend his cart for a suicide, who is also a Protestant. The invitation that has already been printed out must be corrected by hand. “On the beer a simple white sheet, then lots of flowers, suns that he loved so much, yellow dahlias, yellow flowers everywhere. If you remember, it was his favorite color, a symbol of the light he dreamed of in his hearts and works. There were also his easel, his folding chair and his brushes on the floor in front of the coffin,” remembers the painter Émile Bernard. Vincent Van Gogh was 37 years old and had only been painting for ten years.
Exhibitions “Van Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise, the last months”, at the Musée d’Orsay, from October 3, 2023 to February 4, 2024, musee-orsay.com, and “Van Gogh. The Last Voyages”, from October 7, 2023 to September 29, 2024, at the Château d’Auvers, château-auvers.fr.
To read: the exhibition catalog, jointly published by the Musée d’Orsay and Hazan, and “Attacked at the root. “Investigating Van Gogh’s Last Days” by Wouter van der Veen.