Arles · 1888 · A practice reconstructed by letters
A day of Van Gogh's work: equipment, weather, walking and sessions
What time does he leave, what is he wearing, how does he resist the mistral and how many canvases can he paint? Letters allow you to follow a day as closely as possible - without transforming a changing life into an imaginary routine.
Direct response
There is no such thing as a typical day, but a very recognizable method
Van Gogh adapts his work to the motif, the season, the light, his health and the reserves of canvas and colors. A stormy day does not look like a harvest day; a portrait session does not require the same organization as a walk to Montmajour. We must therefore speak of one frequent sequence, not a fixed schedule.
The pattern, however, often comes up in the letters from Arles: getting up and morning correspondence, leaving with canvas and box of colors, searching for or repeating a pattern, very brief meal near the workplace, second session if the light allows it, return with studies still fresh, then letter to Theo and preparation for the next day. Some days produce two studies; others are devoted to a single canvas taken up for hours.
The most precise case dates from September 26, 1888. Vincent writes that he worked from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m, without leaving the motif except to eat a few steps away. It's not a daily clock: it's proof of the intensity that a session could achieve.
A documented and contextualized day
From dawn to evening: six working hours
The central hours resume the long session of September 26. The actions around are practices documented in other letters from Arles.
Write and look at the sky
Vincent sometimes writes early, checks the light and decides whether he takes a pattern or leaves with a blank canvas.
Install the pattern
Easel, canvas, color box and brushes are placed before the light changes too quickly.
Build the whole
Large masses, horizon, color ratios and key direction come before descriptive detail.
Eat nearby
On September 26, he only left to eat "a stone's throw" from the workplace.
Continue or change canvas
A second study can begin if the pattern, weather and material reserves permit.
Go home and write
The fresh canvas returns to the workshop. In the evening is used for meals, mail and sometimes coffee before bed.
What to wear and renew
The material is not an artist's setting: it decides what can be painted
Van Gogh ordered his tubes, purchased canvas in rolls, reused his frames, and often spent more painting than on himself.
The list of colors requested from Theo in April 1888 shows a palette organized into tubes: white, yellow, red, green, blue and lacquer. The invention of the metal tube makes it possible to transport prepared paint and supports outdoor practice, but it does not exempt from choice: each outing requires anticipating quantities.
The canvas constitutes the other limit. Vincent buys coarse fabric in rolls, cuts it according to its formats and keeps its frames to reuse them. A wet study must be reported without damaging the impasto. Stock, drying and transport therefore influence the number of sessions as much as inspiration.
Canvas and frame
Prepared formats or canvas roll, with reused frames to reduce expenses.
Colorbox
Tubes chosen in advance: missing yellow, white or blue can interrupt a series.
Reinforced easel
At the mistral, he cites 50 cm iron stakes and ropes to maintain the installation.
Brushes and drawing
Brushes, reed feather, ink and paper extend the observation beyond just oil.
The journey is part of the work
Walk towards the motif, carry the landscape back
The La Crau plain, the banks of the Rhône, the orchards and Montmajour require you to leave Arles. Distance selects formats and imposes an economy of gestures.
Observe, paint, then draw
The pen drawing of the La Crau plain translates the same territory into lines, hatching and signs. Walking nourishes several techniques.
Montmajour, real place
This photochrome taken around 1890 shows the abbey and the relief that Van Gogh travels through. In July 1888, he described a study reported at sunset from the surrounding area.
Choose a direction
Public garden, Rhône, orchards, La Crau or Montmajour depending on the pattern and light.
Wear without excess
The weight of the easel, colors and canvases limits what can be taken.
Work on site
The framing is stopped in front of the pattern; the wind and the sun change the possible duration.
Bring back a fresh surface
The return protects thick paint which may require several days of drying.
The weather as workshop manager
Snow, full sun, mistral and showers change the method
Van Gogh doesn't just paint "the weather". He must physically negotiate with him.
Snow
Upon arrival, Arles is covered in snow. The clear landscape imposes a cold palette and different spring sessions.
Full sun
In the fields, he works even under the midday sun. The light becomes a contrast of yellow, purple and blue.
The mistral
Brief flowering and wind require speed, easel protection and transportable formats.
The rain
In September 1888, he painted between showers. Later, rain also became a visible pattern in long diagonals.
A session isn't always a canvas
Continue, repeat, change support: four ways to move forward
Van Gogh's speed is real, but it means neither permanent improvisation nor automatic completion at once.
Fix pattern organization
Drawing reduces the garden to masses, contours and hatching. It is used to understand space, to communicate a composition and sometimes to prepare or explain a painting.
Work inside
The self-portrait allows you to study face, touch and color without paying a model. Not every day of Van Gogh therefore takes place in the fields.
Painting your neighborhood
The Yellow House, Place Lamartine and the railway line transform the daily environment into a modern subject.
Recompose memory
The bedroom is a space experienced, observed then reconstructed by color and perspective. Interior work remains essential.
From the first departure to the night
Nine additional images to see the day change light
These works do not all describe the same date. Gathered here, they show how pattern choice and technique move with time, route and weather.
The Langlois Bridge
The calm canal, clear skies and washerwomen suggest a session conducted before the strongest heat. The bridge becomes a geometric landmark at the end of the step.
View of Arles with iris
The irises occupy the foreground while the city stands in the distance. The table very directly reflects the distance traveled between Arles and the fields.
Wheat field and Alpilles
The yellow mass of the field responds to the blue of the mountains. A large part of the session consists of maintaining this opposition despite the moving light.
The Olives
Trunks, foliage and soil seem to travel by the same movement. The touch does not copy the wind: it organizes the instability of the landscape.
The Red Vine
The low sun turns the soil orange and red. The grape pickers remind us that Van Gogh works in the middle of other days of work.
Starry Night on the Rhône
Van Gogh does not reserve observation for daylight. The gas burners, their reflections and the blue of the sky require specific preparation and a quick reading of the values.
Café terrace in the evening
The artificial yellow of the terrace contrasts with the deep blue of the street. Painting at night does not mean painting black: it constructs the scene with colorful contrasts.
The Van Gogh Bridge Today
The preserved and reassembled bridge no longer occupies the exact location of the painted bridge. Photography nevertheless helps to understand its mechanism and scale.
Forum Square in the evening
The contemporary place retains the relationship between lit terrace, facade, cobblestones and night sky. However, tourist catering should not be confused with the exact state of 1888.
After the session
The return does not stop work: it transforms it
A canvas must dry, be evaluated, sometimes taken up. The evening letters simultaneously construct an extraordinarily precise memory of the practice.
Store and dry
Fresh studies join the Yellow House. Impasto takes time to ship and complicates storage.
Eat and sleep early
After certain days, Vincent says he is exhausted: dinner, coffee then bed. The physical effort of the outdoors is central.
Write and prepare
The letter to Theo describes the colors, formats, weather and needs. She prepares the following sessions very concretely.
Separate legend from practice
Four simple ideas that distort a Van Gogh day
"He always finished a painting in one session"
He could work very quickly and complete several studies in a day, but he also rehearsed compositions, took up works and waited for thick surfaces to dry.
"He always painted outside"
The outdoors is essential in Arles, but portraits, still lifes, interiors, copies and imaginative works also occupy the workshop.
"The weather was changing the schedule"
Yes. Snow, mistral, oppressive sun and showers appear in the letters as practical constraints, not just as poetic subjects.
"A day feels like a solitary performance"
The work depends on a network: Theo finances and sends equipment, models pose, cafes feed, craftsmen provide canvas and frames.
| Condition | Probable decision | Risk | Documented response |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good stable weather | Long session in front of a chosen motif. | Fatigue, sun, change of light. | Work early, eat close to the pattern, continue until late. |
| Mistral | Sheltered pattern or reinforced installation. | Upturned easel, vibrant canvas. | Iron stakes and ropes to secure the easel. |
| Showers | Work between two rain passages. | Wet surface, session interrupted. | Wait for clearing or continue inside. |
| Lack of canvas | Change format or postpone a pattern. | Breaking a series. | Buy in rolls, store and reuse frames. |
| Winter or exhaustion | Indoor work, drawing or imagination. | Isolation and drop in pace. | Paint near the stove, write, sleep early. |
First-hand documents
Letters that allow you to reconstruct the work
Letter 689 · September 26, 1888
The day from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., the meal taken nearby and the evening writing.
Read the letter →Letter 683 · September 18, 1888
A morning in the garden, a return, then a new beginning with a white canvas completed the same day.
Read the letter →Letter 628 · June 19, 1888
The work in the wheat in the midday sun and the easel fixed with iron stakes and ropes.
Read the letter →Letter 687 · September 25, 1888
The paint between the showers, the impasto that must dry and the fall race.
Read the letter →Letter 593 · April 5, 1888
A detailed order of tubes and the financial priority given to colors and canvas.
Read the letter →Letter 631 · June 25, 1888
Purchasing coarse canvas in rolls and reusing frames.
Read the letter →Letter 636 · July 5, 1888
A study reported at sunset from the surroundings of Montmajour.
Read the letter →Letter 723 · December 1, 1888
The continuous work, the exhaustion of the evening and the possibility of painting from memory near the stove.
Read the letter →Frequently asked questions
A day of Van Gogh in eight answers
What time did Van Gogh start painting?
There is no known fixed time. A letter dated September 26, 1888, however, documented a session that began at 7 a.m. and continued until 6 p.m.
How many hours did he work per day?
The duration varied greatly. Some sessions took almost the whole day; others were interrupted by rain, wind, a journey, a visit or lack of equipment.
Did Van Gogh paint a canvas a day?
Not systematically. He could complete two studies in a day, continue a painting, repeat a composition or devote time to drawing and letters.
What equipment did he take outside?
Canvas or panel, easel, color box, brushes and sometimes drawing materials. In the mistral, he mentions iron stakes and ropes to fix the easel.
Did Van Gogh walk a lot to paint?
Yes, his motifs take him to the orchards, La Crau, the Rhône and Montmajour. The letters show that he returns regularly with studies carried out outside the city.
Was he painting in the rain?
He indicates having worked between showers. The rain could impose an interruption, but it also became a visible motif in certain late works.
What did he do in the evening?
He ate, wrote to Theo or other correspondents, described the day's works, prepared orders for materials and sometimes went to bed very early after an exhausting day.
Why are his letters so important?
They connect the paintings to dates, locations, weather conditions, material purchases and composition decisions. They prevent his work from being reduced to the legend of spontaneous genius alone.
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