Touring Europe in the Footsteps of van Gogh

Although Nina Siegal's account of her Van Gogh pilgrimage is very impressive, there is one inaccuracy that should be brought to the attention of those who follow in her footsteps. The room she saw at St.Paul de Mausolé is not in fact the real room occupied by Vincent; it is a reconstruction for the benefit of visitors. No deception is intended by the present psychiatric institution, which will freely admit that the room and wing inhabited by their famous patient had to be transformed many years ago to be brought up to modern standards.
There is in fact only one room in the world known to have been inhabited by Vincent and preserved completely as it was: it is in the Auberge Ravoux in Auvers-sur-Oise, near Paris. To visit the room where he died and then his last resting place in the nearby cemetery is a truly moving experience. It is the ultimate stage in the pilgrimage so well described by Nina Siegal. Ted Freeman, Paris

"Finally, there it was: At the bitter end of a seemingly endless stretch of ramshackle rowhouses at 221, rue Wilson"

Hmmm, took me 3 secs on Google maps. Seems weird it would be a problem to find. Maybe that's a problem now, no more romanticism allowed.

The quiet and lovely Kroller Muller museum in a huge Dutch park has and displays more Van Gogh's than the wildly overcrowded museum in Amsterdam; that it is not mentioned here significantly detracts from the credibility of this piece.

Very nice piece by Ms. Siegal!

She's right when she writes that van Gogh's art has "the familiarity of cereal boxes." So many of the old masters suffer from this; the French impressionists, da Vinci, Rembrandt etc.

However, their work is so fascinating because they only paint how they see it.

Thanks for the descriptions...I myself have made several. Question for you? In Auvers--the field where he shot himself (if true) was a 0.5 mile down to the Auberge Ravoux house where he died. Windy streets, hilly path....no way someone with a lethal bullet wound in the abdomen walked that alone. The suicide story is fiction. He was shot much closer to the Ravoux house in the city.

from the wonderful song by Don McLean ...

"Starry, starry night.
Flaming flowers that brightly blaze, Swirling clouds in violet haze,
Reflect in Vincent's eyes of china blue.
Colors changing hue, morning field of amber grain,
Weathered faces lined in pain,
Are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand."

I have photos of Corot's Rome paintings on my phone. He's not my favorite artist, but he moved the needle, and from an art-historical perspective, I enjoy trying to stand as close as possible to where Corot might have stood for the paintings.

The author doesn't let on whether she revised her opinion of Van Gogh's work.

Thank you Nina Siegal for this beautiful, insightful article.

Van Gogh's work is genius, genius of a rare kind.

As one poster said, may van Gogh and his kind brother rest in peace.

those interested in van Gogh should read “Van Gogh: The Life,” by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith.

This article reminds me of an excellent TV series by Jeroen Krabbe about Van Gogh shown on Dutch this year. Should it ever come to the USA, do see it.

The combination of Ms. Siegal's superb article and David Farley's about tracing Franz Kafka's footsteps in Prague raise the hope that the NY Times has inaugurated a series of articles on tracing the lives of a variety of cultural icons. I certainly hope so!

Thank you for this wonderful travelogue. You have really managed to capture the soul of Vincent Van Gogh. I wish that all of the private owners of his works would together create a foundation dedicated to the preservation of the various stations in the artist's life.

Taken by her writing here, I looked for the book, "The Anatomy Lesson", noted in author credits. Thought others might be interested in it as well. " Set on a single day in the Dutch Golden Age, this engrossing historical novel brilliantly imagines the complex story behind one of Rembrandt's most famous paintings

Commissioned by the Amsterdam surgeon's guild, "The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp" was the first major work by Rembrandt to be proclaimed a masterpiece. The novel opens on the morning of the medical dissection, and, as they prepare for that evening's big event, it follows several characters: a one-handed coat thief called Aris the Kid, who is awaiting his turn at the gallows; Flora, the woman pregnant with his child who hopes to save him from the noose; Jan Fetchet, a curio collector who also moonlights as an acquirer of medical cadavers; René Descartes, who attended the dissection in the course of his quest to understand where the human soul resides; and the 26-year old young master himself, who feels a shade uneasy about his assignment. Then there's Pia, an art restorer who is examining the painting in contemporary times. As the story builds to its dramatic and inevitable conclusion, the events that transpire throughout the day sway Rembrandt to change his initial composition in a fundamental way. Bringing to life the vivid world of Amsterdam in 1632, The Anatomy Lesson offers a rich slice of history and a textured story by a masterful young writer. "

Van Gogh spent a year in the asylum in St. Remy and you can see his former room and walk through the property to see where he painted some of his amazing paintings. We operate cycling trips in Provence and our tour here with a local art expert and authority on Van Gogh is a trip highlight. Van Gogh would agree- the light and the Alpille region is truly inspiring. If you are a Vincent enthusiast, (and like to ride a bike through Provence) join us - Great Explorations / Randonnee Tours.

The Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam currently has a special exhibit featuring Edvard Munch paintings alongside those of Van Gogh. The two artists lived in many of the same places in the same time periods but it is unknown if they ever met. I just saw this exhibit last month and could have spent most of a day there.

Very nice story. I did something similar in Arles a couple of years ago. See:
http://m.naim.my/discovering-vincent-van-gogh-in-arles-france/

I only know Auvers Sur Oise. Vincent's paintings can still be seen 'live' as it has not changed much, the church, the fields, the small houses. His work is a comfort and inspiration, remember , this was the late 1800s, yet his take on the world is/was as modern as today. We all miss you Vincent and thank you.

If you study Vincent's paintings carefully you can locate the exact spot he painted many of his most famous works. I consider these spots as hallowed ground, and thankfully many of the views are still very much the same as when Vincent put brush to canvas. Great review, Bravo!

Kudos to NINA SIEGALDEC and thanks to the NYT for this wonderful travel and art essay. I read the title and warily approached the text about a life story, an artist, and places that are so important to me. I dreaded a story about not enough signs in English or one of uniformed praise of "Sunflowers" etc. Instead we have first class, well informed, with opinions and views, art and travel writing. In my five years living in France I made a similar pilgrimage spread out of the years - a week here, a weekend there. But I could not have written this. Thanks also for all the links for more information and the wonderful photos. Now, NYT, who will be the next artist she brings to us in the travel section?

The Alychamps in Arles is a truly spiritual place and perhaps van Gogh was trying to seek some inner peace there. The outdoor cafes in Arles, the village of Stes. Maries de la Mer where you can visit a wildlife sanctuary in the Camargue, and the surrounding fields are great memories when I visited Arles in 1985. The almond trees were in bloom and one imagined life for Impressionist painters while traveling south on the train from Paris. Arles is a place I enjoy because you can imagine so many centuries of history there.

Nuenen is fabulous. The water wheel and the entire area of Van Gogh Village brings VvG's art to life. I have been to the VvG Museum on Museumplein in Amsterdam perhaps a dozen times and it never gets tiresome.

The site of my very favorite van Gogh is still standing, with a plaque to mark it - the Church at Auvers:

http://vincentinparis.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/The-Church-at-Auver...

When I was seven years old my aunt gave me a small wooden jigsaw puzzle for my birthday, Van Gogh's Langlois Bridge. I must have put together the puzzle a thousand time over the years and it became so familiar that I almost thought of it as my bridge. If Van Gogh is all about colors , the paintings are also about our relationship with the natural word and man-made objects. The "cereal box" effect described by the author and the inescapable Photoshop world that is ours have altered or even severed that relationship. My Langlois Bridge now points to the past and to a world that is gone. Retracing van Gogh's foot steps allowed Nina Siegel some authentic glimpses at this intriguing man and his entrancing and enchanting paintings.

The most van Goghish of places in Provence for me is not even St-Paul de Mausole, but the Alyscamps in Arles on a late afternoon, the light low through the plane trees and birds darting among the stones. It's just a few minutes' walk from the bustle of the city, and you can feel the same sense of refuge van Gogh must have felt when he painted the long allée.

As someone who comes recently, in old age, to art, I can only hope for as productive a creative time on earth as this lovely, sensitive man, Vincent. May he and his kind brother rest in peace.

thank-you dear ms. siegal.

what a wonderful essay you have written. i very much enjoyed it and am appreciative of your writing.

please keep observing, writing and teaching us.

i am hoping you will write more the NT Times in the future.

A beautiful piece of writing that brought tears to my eyes-- not the first time that I have been so moved by this most compelling of artists. I remember standing in front of one of Vincent's self portraits in Paris more than 40 years ago, and having the feeling that his soul (or ghost) was right there in front of me, in the paint. I have never experienced anything like that, before or since. Here is one artist who fully deserves all of the acclaim and adulation.

How could you possibly leave out the Kroller- Muller as a place to visit...........