An Old Woman of Arles
Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890), Arles, February 1888
oil on canvas, 58 cm x 42 cm
Credits (obliged to state): Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
Van Gogh painted this woman while staying in the Carrel hotel in the southern French city of Arles. It is probably Elisabeth Garcin, the hotel owner's mother-in-law. She was 68 years old at the time. The knotted black kerchief on her head was a typical part of a widow's mourning dress. Part of a bed can be seen in the background.
Throughout his life, Van Gogh liked to paint things and people that bore the marks of a hard life. This figure study can be seen in that context.
- F-number
- F0390
- JH-number
- JH1357
- Object number
- s0145V1962
- Dimensions
- 58 cm x 42 cm, 75.5 cm x 60 cm, 8.5 cm
- Provenance
- Sent by the artist from Arles to his brother Theo van Gogh, Paris, at the beginning of May 1888; after his death on 25 January 1891, inherited by his widow, Jo van Gogh-Bonger, and their son, Vincent Willem van Gogh, Paris; administered until her death on 2 September 1925 by Jo van Gogh-Bonger, Bussum/Amsterdam/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)
Houston, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Vincent van Gogh. His Life in Art, 10 March-27 June 2019
Arles, Fondation Vincent van Gogh Arles, Van Gogh en Provence : la tradition modernisée, 14 May-11 September 2016
Bremen, Kunsthalle Bremen, Emile Bernard – Am Puls der Moderne, 7 February-1 June 2015
Copenhagen, Ordrupgaard Museum, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Bernard. Dramaet i Arles, 7 February-22 June 2014
Amsterdam, Hermitage Amsterdam, Vincent. Het Van Gogh Museum in de Hermitage Amsterdam, 29 September 2012-25 April 2013
Barcelona, Museu Picasso, Devorar París. Picasso 1900-1907, 1 July-16 October 2011
Rome, Complesso del Vittoriano, Vincent van Gogh. Campagna senza tempo - città moderna, 8 October 2010-6 February 2011, no. 65
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Van Goghs brieven. De kunstenaar aan het woord, 9 October 2009-3 January 2010
New York, The Morgan Library & Museum, Painted with Words. Vincent van Gogh's letters to Emile Bernard, 28 September 2007-6 January 2008, no. 32
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), Van Gogh. Face to Face, 2 July-24 September 2000
Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Van Gogh's Van Goghs. Masterpieces from the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, 17 January-16 May 1999, no. 48
Washington, National Gallery of Art, Van Gogh's Van Goghs. Masterpieces from the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, 4 October 1998-3 January 1999, no. 48
Tokyo, Seiji Togo Memorial Yasuda Kasai Museum of Art, Vincent van Gogh and his time. Van Gogh & portraits from the Van Gogh Museum and the H.W. Mesdag Museum, 14 September-13 November 1994, no. 7
Tokyo, Setagaya Art Museum, Vincent van Gogh and Japan, 4 April-24 May 1992
Kyoto, National Museum of Modern Art (Kyoto), Vincent van Gogh and Japan, 18 February-29 March 1992
Arles, Musée d'Arles, Van Gogh et Arles, 4 February-15 May 1989
London, Hayward Gallery, Vincent van Gogh. Paintings and Drawings of the Vincent van Gogh Foundation Amsterdam, 23 October 1968-12 January 1969, no. 100
Antwerp, Zaal Comité voor Artistieke Werking, Vincent van Gogh, 7 May-19 June 1955, no. 258
Arles, Musée Réattu, La Provence et les peintres, 1 July-31 August 1954, no. 39
Berlin, Kunstsalon Paul Cassirer, [titel onbekend], October 1908
Hansen, Dorothee, Buschhoff, A., Hans, Henrike, Emile Bernard : Am Puls der Moderne, 2015, p. 98-99