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1886-1887 · 4 Gogh.art nodes

Van Gogh in Paris: Colour, Prints and Modern Painting

From 1886 to 1888 Van Gogh lived with his brother Theo in Paris. He encountered Neo-Impressionist painting and became acquainted with Toulouse-Lautrec, Bernard and Gauguin; flowers, portraits, prints and city views became fields for colour and brushwork experiments.

  • The Colour Experimenter
  • The Translator
  • Synaesthetic Precision
  • The Ferocious Reader
Vincent van Gogh, Still Life with Meadow Flowers and Roses, 1886, Paris Vincent van Gogh, Vase of Flowers, 1886, Paris Vincent van Gogh, Still life: vase with cornflowers and poppies, 1887, Paris Vincent van Gogh, Still life: sunflowers, 1887, Paris Vincent van Gogh, Glass with Yellow Roses, 1886, Paris Vincent van Gogh, Still life with fritillaries, 1886, Paris

Long-tail intents

  • Van Gogh Paris paintings
  • Van Gogh Paris self portraits
  • Van Gogh and Neo-Impressionism in Paris

Reading this place

Modernity was not a replacement

Paris did not erase the experience of Nuenen. It changed the relations among older materials: colour became brighter, compositions opened, and Japanese prints and Neo-Impressionist methods entered the work, while earlier problems of figure, labour and composition remained.

Flowers and self-portraits

Paris flower still lifes and repeated self-portraits are not marginal exercises. They repeatedly test colour juxtaposition, different grounds and brush directions, opening a colour system later tested in Arles yellows and night scenes.

Key artwork paths

1887 Pere Tanguy Open artwork 1887 Self-Portrait with Grey Felt Hat Open artwork

Common questions

When did Van Gogh live in Paris?

He lived with his brother Theo in Paris from 1886 to 1888.

How did Paris change Van Gogh's painting?

It brought Neo-Impressionism, prints, brighter colour and new painterly companions into his working methods.

Which subjects matter in the Paris period?

Flower still lifes, self-portraits, city and suburban views, and ways of seeing from Japanese prints are all important.

Sources