Chapter 9: A Home at Last

  1.       Among the first historians to go to Arles in the early decades of the twentieth century were Julius Meier–Graefe, Benno Stokvis and Gustave Coquiot.

  2.       A full list of the plants and shrubs can be found in the archives in Arles. Cote: O31, ‘Aménagement du jardin de la Place Lamartine 1875–1876’ (ACA).

  3.       Letter 626, Vincent van Gogh to Willemien van Gogh, between 16 and 20 June 1888 (VGM).

  4.       Vincent calls these briques rouges, a local term for unglazed floor tiles. They can be seen in several of his paintings (e.g. Vincent’s Chair, The Bedroom in Arles, The Zouave).

  5.       A ‘petticoat episode’ meant having a relationship with a woman. See note 18, Letter 602, Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, 1 May 1888 (VGM).

  6.       In 1881 Vincent had proposed marriage to his cousin Kee Vos, and he considered marrying Margot Begemann in 1884. For Vincent’s views on marriage, see note 2 in Letter 181, Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, 18 November 1881; and Letter 227, Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, 14 or 15 May 1882 (VGM).

  7.       Letter 574, Vincent van Gogh to Willemien van Gogh, late October 1887 (VGM).

  8.       Two public bathhouses were situated on quai de la Gare, one run by Pierre Trouche and the other by Antoine Chaix; Indicateur Arlésien, 1887 (MA). The quai de la Gare ran alongside the Rhône from the train station to the bridge. The respective addresses of these bathhouses were 38, rue des Vers (Land Registry: F66) and 18, rue du Grand Prieuré (Land Registry: H96); Indicateur Marseillais, 1888 and 1889 (ACA). Vincent would probably have gone to Pierre Trouche’s establishment, which was much closer to place Lamartine. See also note 4, Letter 657, Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, 8 August 1888 (VGM).

  9.       ‘Moi je le rencontrais souvent avec sa serviette sous le bras. Il me semble que je le vois devant moi.’ Alphonse Robert in his letter of 11 September 1929, in Doiteau and Leroy, ‘Vincent van Gogh et le drame de l’oreille coupée’.

  10.     Letter 677, Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, 9 September 1888 (VGM).

  11.     The suitable age that I chose was anyone thirty-five or above.

  12.     Thérèse Balmossière (née Brémond) (1839–1924). The surname is occasionally spelt Balmoussière.

  13.     She was Madame Crévoulin’s second cousin. Her paternal grandmother, Jeannette Favier (née Brémond), was Thérèse’s aunt. Bernard Soulè and Joseph Balmossière held the same job, chef des trains, on the census returns, prior to their retirement.

  14.     Letter 649, Vincent van Gogh to Émile Bernard, 29 July 1888 (VGM).

  15.     Anne Zazzo, Palais Galliera Musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris, 4 April 2014.

  16.     The Balmossières came from Tarascon (who do not of course wear Arlésienne dress) and appeared to be a Catholic family. P14 List of Protestants in Arles, Etat Civil (ACA).

  17.     Thérèse Antoinette Balmossiere (1874–1961) was the cleaning lady’s daughter. Her niece was Thérèse Catherine Mistral (1875–?), who lived at 37, avenue Montmajour (ACA).

  18.     Letter 650, Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, 29 July 1888 (VGM).

  19.     Dr Rey mentioned that Vincent blinked constantly, and Adéline Ravoux that he smoked his pipe non-stop.

  20.     The illustrations of the Yellow House are a painting, The Yellow House (The Street), F464, JH1 569, where the shutters are wide open. In the watercolour, The Yellow House (The Street), F1413, JH1591 and drawing F1453, JH1590, only Vincent’s bedroom shutters are open.

  21.     Letter 653, Vincent van Gogh to Willemien van Gogh, 31 July 1888 (VGM).

  22.     Paul Eugène Milliet (1863–1943).

  23.     Letter 660, Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, 13 August 1888 (VGM).

  24.     François Casimir Escalier (1816–89). Vincent wrote that Patience Escalier worked on a small farm on the Crau Plain (Letter 663, Vincent van Gogh to Theo, 18 August 1888 (VGM)). There was one other Escalier family living in Arles at this time, also from Eyragues, who lived on the Crau Plain at the Mas Niquet. They do not seem to be related to François Casimir Escalier, and the father could not be the famous shepherd, as he was only forty-six in 1888.

  25.     Letter 663, Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, 18 August 1888 (VGM).

  26.     Ibid.

  27.     The Bompard & Fils shop was at 14, place de la République, the main square in Arles. Indicateur Arlésien, 1887, p. 23 (MA).

  28.     Letter 660, Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, on or about 13 August 1888 (VGM).

  29.     Vincent paid 15 francs a month to rent the Yellow House as a studio from 1 May 1888 to 29 September 1888. When he took over the whole house his rent increased. From December 1888 to May 1889 he paid 21 francs 50 per month, because of the extra two rooms. See 3.3 Vincent’s income and expenditure, The Letters (VGM).

  30.     Letter 676, Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, 8 September 1888 (VGM).

  31.     Letter 677, Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, 9 September 1888 (VGM).

  32.     Letter 685, Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, 21 September 1888 (VGM).

  33.     Letter 677, Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, 9 September 1888 (VGM).

  34.     Gauguin’s small room was 8.71 metres square and Vincent’s was 9.54 metres square. Plan Ramser 1922 (VGM).

  35.     Letter 678, Vincent van Gogh to Willemien van Gogh, between 9 and 14 September 1888 (VGM).

  36.     This new purchase included the pair of simple straw-seated Provençal chairs seen in the painting of the bedroom. In Vincent’s house there was also a more formal chair with a straw seat and armrests, as seen in Vincent’s portrait L’Arlésienne and in Gauguin’s Chair. Similarly in the drawing of a seated Zouave another chair, which has a strange cross-bar for the feet, can just be made out (F1443/JH1485).

  37.     The importance of Christian symbolism in Van Gogh’s art has been explored by Tsukasa Kōdera in Vincent van Gogh: Christianity Versus Nature. An article on the significance of twelve figures in Café Terrace at Night is explored by Lorena Muñoz-Alonso in ‘Scholar Claims Van Gogh Hid Secret Homage to Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper In His Café Terrace at Night’, Artnet, 10 March 2015.

  38.     Letter 685, Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, 21 September 1888 (VGM).

  39.     Letter 682, Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, 18 September 1888 (VGM).

  40.     Letter 709, Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, 21 October 1888 (VGM).

  41.     Letter 701, Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, 10–11 October 1888 (VGM).

  42.     Décret officiel of President Carnot, 2 October 1888; L’Homme de Bronze, 14 October 1888 (MA).

  43.     Cote: F41, Statistiques: Mouvement de la population 1889 & 1890 (ACA).

  44.     The passport and birth certificate were requested in September 1887. See note 3, Letter 572, Vincent van Gogh to Johannes van Homberg, Mayor of Neunen, 1 September 1887 (VGM).

  45.     Letter 701, Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, 10 or 11 October 1888 (VGM).

  46.     Letter 653, Vincent van Gogh to Willemien van Gogh, 31 July 1888 (VGM).

  47.     Paul Signac to Gustave Coquiot, 6 December 1921, in the Coquiot notebook (VGM).