Van Gogh and Gauguin: What Happened?
For about two months at the end of 1888, Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin lived and painted together in the Yellow House in Arles. It was meant to be the start of an artists' brotherhood. It collapsed in the crisis where Van Gogh cut off part of his own ear.
Van Gogh's dream of a brotherhood
Vincent van Gogh wanted to build a community of painters in the south of France. He begged Gauguin to come, and his brother Theo, an art dealer, agreed to pay Gauguin's way.
Van Gogh decorated the little Yellow House and painted his Sunflowers to welcome him. He was desperate for the friendship to work.
Two opposites under one roof
They could hardly have been more different. Van Gogh painted fast, straight from nature, drowning in emotion. Gauguin worked slowly, from memory and imagination, and was sure he was the superior artist.
They argued about everything, money, women, what painting was even for. The little house grew tense fast.
Painting side by side
For all the friction, the work was extraordinary. They painted the same cafes, the same woman, even each other's empty chairs. Gauguin painted Van Gogh at work on his sunflowers.
In two months they produced some of the most loved paintings of the century, made under one roof by two men slowly driving each other to the edge.
The night of the ear
It ended on 23 December 1888. After a final confrontation, Van Gogh, in crisis, cut off part of his ear. Gauguin left Arles and the two never lived together again.
The full story of that night is in why Van Gogh cut off his ear.
Were they lovers?
People often ask, and I understand why. There is no evidence they were lovers. It was an intense, combustible friendship between two very different men, and the rest is speculation.
What is certain is that each pushed the other to take risks neither would have taken alone.
What people ask about the Yellow House months
How long were they together? About two months, from late October to late December 1888.
Where did they live? In the Yellow House in Arles, in the south of France.
Did Gauguin cause the ear incident? He was part of the breaking point, but Van Gogh was already fragile. The crisis was his own.
Did they ever meet again? No, but they kept writing to each other afterward.
Did they ever paint each other? Yes. Gauguin painted Van Gogh at his easel painting sunflowers, and Van Gogh hated how tired and mad it made him look.
Two months, then never again
They shared a house for about sixty days, made some of the century's most loved paintings, and parted in blood.
They never saw each other in person again, though letters crossed between them until Van Gogh's death in 1890. I keep going back to both men in the complete story of Paul Gauguin and the complete story of Vincent van Gogh.
There is an uglier side to this story. I get into it in the paid piece on why Gauguin was no hero.
