Seascape near Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer
Currently on view
Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890), Arles, June 1888
oil on canvas, 50.5 cm x 64.3 cm
Credits (obliged to state): Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
We can tell that Van Gogh painted this view of the sea from the beach, as grains of sand have been found in the paint layers. It was done at the fishing village of Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, during a trip he took from Arles in the south of France.
In addition to the blue and white that he brushed onto the canvas with bold strokes, he used green and yellow for the waves.
He applied these colours with a palette knife, neatly capturing the effect of the light through the waves. Van Gogh was enthusiastic about the colours of the Mediterranean Sea. He wrote that it ‘has a colour like mackerel, in other words, changing – you don’t always know if it’s green or purple – you don’t always know if it’s blue – because a second later, its changing reflection has taken on a pink or grey hue’. The bright red signature has been placed prominently in the foreground: it was intended as a ‘red note in the green’.
- F-number
- F0415
- JH-number
- JH1452
- Object number
- s0117V1962
- Dimensions
- 50.5 cm x 64.3 cm, 70.7 cm x 84.5 cm, 9.5 cm
- Provenance
- Given by the artist to Paul Eugène Milliet to take to his brother Theo van Gogh, Paris, mid-August 1888; after Theo’s death on 25 January 1891, possibly inherited by his mother Anna van Gogh-Carbentus, Breda/Leiden; after her death on 29 april 1907 bought by her daughter-in-law Jo van Gogh-Bonger, Laren for NLG 500; after her death on 2 september 1925 inherited by her son Vincent Willem van Gogh, Laren; transferred by Vincent Willem van Gogh, Laren, to the Vincent van Gogh Foundation, Amsterdam, 10 July 1962; agreement concluded between the Vincent van Gogh Foundation and the State of the Netherlands, in which the preservation and management of the collection, and its placing in the Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh, to be realized in Amsterdam, is entrusted to the State, 21 July 1962; given on loan until the opening of the museum on 2 June 1973 to the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; on permanent loan to the Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh from 2 June 1973 and at the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, since 1 July 1994.
- artist
- Vincent van Gogh
- Credits (obliged to state)
- Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
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Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada, Vincent van Gogh. Paintings-Drawings / Tableaux-Dessins, 17 November-18 December 1960, no. 52
Montréal, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Vincent van Gogh. Paintings-Drawings / Tableaux-Dessins, 6 October-6 November 1960, no. 52
Utrecht, Centraal Museum, Vincent van Gogh schilderijen en tekeningen, verzameling Ir. V.W. van Gogh, 18 December 1959-1 February 1960, no. 39
Seattle, Seattle Art Museum, Vincent van Gogh. Paintings and Drawings, 7 March-19 April 1959, no. 46
Portland (Oregon), Portland Art Museum (Oregon), Vincent van Gogh. Paintings and Drawings, 28 January-1 March 1959, no. 46
Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Vincent van Gogh. Paintings and Drawings, 10 December 1958-18 January 1959, no. 46
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Schiedam, Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, Vincent van Gogh, 21 December 1957-27 January 1958
Leiden, Museum De Lakenhal, Vincent van Gogh, 9 November-16 December 1957
Fries Museum, Vincent van Gogh uit de collectie Ir. V.W. van Gogh, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 14 April-13 May 1956
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Manchester (England), Manchester City Art Gallery, Vincent van Gogh. Paintings & Drawings, Mainly from the Collection of Ir. V.W. van Gogh, 17 December 1955-4 February 1956, no. 42
Liverpool, Walker Art Gallery, Vincent van Gogh. Paintings & Drawings, Mainly from the Collection of Ir. V.W. van Gogh, 29 October-10 December 1955, no. 42
Antwerp, Zaal Comité voor Artistieke Werking, Vincent van Gogh, 7 May-19 June 1955, no. 251
New Orleans, Isaac Delgado Museum, Vincent van Gogh 1853-1890, 27 March-20 April 1955, no. 20
Miami, Lowe Gallery of the University of Miami, Vincent van Gogh 1853-1890, 24 February-20 March 1955, no. 20
Palm Beach (Florida), Society of the Four Arts, Vincent van Gogh 1853-1890, 21 January-13 February 1955, no. 20
Willemstad, Curaçaosch Museum, Vincent van Gogh, 19 December 1954-15 January 1955
Toledo (Ohio), Toledo Museum of Art, Vincent van Gogh 1853-1890, 7 March-30 April 1954, no. 98
Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), Philadelphia Museum of Art, Vincent van Gogh 1853-1890, 2 January-28 February 1954, no. 98
Saint Louis, City Art Museum of Saint Louis, Vincent van Gogh 1853-1890, 17 October-13 December 1953, no. 98
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Groningen, Museum van Oudheden, Vincent van Gogh, 18 October-16 November 1947
Norwich (Connecticut), Slater Memorial Museum, Paintings by Vincent van Gogh, 2-19 December 1945
New York, Museum of Modern Art (New York), Fourteen Paintings by Vincent van Gogh, 3-26 August 1945
Québec, Musée du Québec, Paintings by Vincent van Gogh, 11 May-3 June 1945
Toronto, Art Gallery of Toronto, Paintings by Vincent van Gogh, 6-29 April 1945
Syracuse (New York), Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts, Paintings by Vincent van Gogh, 4-25 March 1945
Louisville (Kentucky), J.B. Speed Memorial Museum, Paintings by Vincent van Gogh, 4-25 February 1945
New Orleans, Isaac Delgado Museum, Paintings by Vincent van Gogh, 7-28 January 1945
Atlanta, High Museum of Art, Paintings by Van Gogh, 3-27 December 1944
Charleston, Gibbes Art Gallery, Paintings by Vincent van Gogh, 29 October-26 November 1944
Richmond (Virginia), Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Modern Dutch art. Art of Our Allies Series, 1-22 October 1944
New York, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Paintings by Vincent van Gogh, 28 June-24 September 1944
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Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada, An Exhibition of Modern Dutch Art. 14 Paintings by Vincent van Gogh and Work by Contemporary Dutch Artists, 11-27 February 1944, no. 6G
Cincinnati, Cincinnati Art Museum, An Exhibition of Modern Dutch Art. 14 Paintings by Vincent van Gogh and Work by Contemporary Dutch Artists, 5-30 January 1944, no. 6G
Indianapolis, John Herron Art Institute, An Exhibition of Modern Dutch Art. 14 Paintings by Vincent van Gogh and Work by Contemporary Dutch Artists, 8 November-12 December 1943, no. 6G
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Springfield, George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum, Paintings by Vincent van Gogh and Contemporary Dutch Artists, September 1943
Saint Louis, City Art Museum of Saint Louis, An Exhibition of Modern Dutch Art. 14 Paintings by Vincent van Gogh and Work by Contemporary Dutch Artists, 17 July-15 August 1943
Montgomery (Alabama), Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Paintings by Vincent van Gogh/Oils by Van Gogh, 30 May-30 June 1943
Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), Philadelphia Art Alliance, Paintings by Vincent van Gogh/Oils by Van Gogh, 30 April-23 May 1943
Northampton (Massachusetts), Smith College Museum of Art, Paintings by Vincent van Gogh/Oils by Van Gogh, 5-22 April 1943
Toledo (Ohio), Toledo Museum of Art, An Exhibition of Modern Dutch Art. 14 Paintings by Vincent van Gogh and Work by Contemporary Dutch Artists, 7-28 March 1943
Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania), Carnegie Institute, An Exhibition of Modern Dutch Art. 14 Paintings by Vincent van Gogh and Work by Contemporary Dutch Artists, 5 February-1 March 1943
Albany (New York), Albany Institute of History & Art, An Exhibition of Modern Dutch Art. 14 Paintings by Vincent van Gogh and Work by Contemporary Dutch Artists, 6-26 January 1943
Providence (Rhode Island), Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Paintings by Van Gogh, 5-30 December 1942
Worcester, Worcester Art Museum, Paintings by Van Gogh, 28 October-28 November 1942, no. 11
Dayton, Dayton Art Institute, Vincent van Gogh, 1 March-1 April 1942
Spokane (Washington), Spokane Art Center, A Collection of Fourteen Original Oil Paintings by Vincent van Gogh from the Municipal Museum of Amsterdam, 12-22 December 1941
Houston, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Fourteen Paintings by the Great Post-Impressionist Vincent Van Gogh, 10-27 July 1941
Dallas, Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Vincent van Gogh, 8 June-6 July 1941
Boston, Jordan Marsh Company Galleries, Paintings by Vincent van Gogh, 3-16 March 1941
Chapel Hill (North Carolina), Person Hall Art Gallery, Paintings from the Family Collection of Van Gogh, 3-21 February 1941
Minneapolis, Walker Art Center, Vincent van Gogh, September-October 1940
New York, Holland House, Exhibition of Paintings by Vincent van Gogh, 6 June-19 July 1940, no. 7
New Haven (Connecticut), Gallery of Fine Arts of Yale University, Paintings by Vincent van Gogh, 14 April-28 May 1940
Cambridge (Massachusetts), Harvard Art Museums, Fogg Museum, Paintings by Vincent van Gogh, 11 March-10 April 1940
Cleveland, Cleveland Museum of Art, Masterpieces of Art from the New York and San Francisco World's Fairs, 7 February-7 March 1940
San Francisco, Treasure Island, Palace of Fine and Decorative Arts, Masterworks of Five Centuries, 18 February-29 October 1939, no. 174
Bandung, Jaarbeursgebouw, Vierde collectie Regnault, 24-31 January 1939
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