Arles · autumn 1888 · one motif, two looks
The Alyscamps: Van Gogh and Gauguin paint the same avenue of Arles
A few steps from the Yellow House, the two artists set up their easels in an old necropolis. Van Gogh draws from it a feverish series of four paintings; Gauguin, two more constructed and decorative visions.
The essential difference: Van Gogh transforms perspective, trunks and leaves into movement; Gauguin simplifies the place into colorful masses and composes an almost symbolic scene.
Quick response
Did they really paint side by side?
Yes. The Alyscamps constitute their first major common subject after Gauguin's arrival in Arles. The two men worked there at the end of October then at the beginning of November 1888, sometimes with neighboring points of view.
The result, however, does not form a pair of copies. Van Gogh often fixes his gaze in the middle of the alley, accentuates the flight of trees and makes the carpet of leaves vibrate. Gauguin moves the historical motif to the margins, orders the colors into zones and gives more importance to the silhouettes crossing the landscape.
Comparing their Alyscamps means observing a pictorial conversation live: same season, same terrain, same crude canvas for certain versions - but two ideas of modernity.
The place before the painting
A necropolis that has become a promenade
The name "Alyscamps" derives from the Champs Élysées, the stay of the blessed in Antiquity. At the gates of Arelate, the road lined with tombs became an important Roman and then Christian necropolis.
In the 19th century, the whole no longer had the appearance of an intact funerary city. Empty sarcophagi remain along a planted alley; Saint-Honorat closes the perspective; the canal and railway installations remind us that the modern city wins over the remains. This superposition - antiquity, promenade, industry - gives the motif its strength.
Face-to-face
Two verticals, two ideas of the landscape
The works below start from the same corridor of trees. At Van Gogh, the path draws the eye. At Gauguin, the landscape presents itself as an organized surface.
Depth under tension
Poplars divide the canvas, yellow-orange leaves invade the path and sarcophagi guide the escape. Basically, industrial chimneys thwart ancient memory. The tiny couple is enough to introduce the present into this landscape of the dead.
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Color as construction
Gauguin dismisses almost all funerary vocabulary. He guards the lantern tower and part of Saint-Honorat, then distributes trees, water, embankments and people in juxtaposed masses. The flamboyant autumnal hues not only describe the season: they give the painting its architecture.
See this reproduction →Same aisle, not the same snapshot. The two paintings reproduce neither exactly the same point of view nor the same day. Their interest lies precisely in this discrepancy: everyone selects in the place what serves their language.
Point-by-point comparison
Van Gogh circulates the eye; Gauguin immobilizes the scene
| Element | Van Gogh | Gauguin |
|---|---|---|
| Viewpoint | Often placed in the axis of the path or very close to the trees; perspective leads to the gaze. | Shifted towards the canal and embankments; the space is deliberately flattened. |
| Trees | Vertical trunks, sometimes cut by the frame, which punctuate the depth and touch. | Synthetic masses, simplified contours, trees used as colored partitions. |
| Leaves | Directional lines and touches: the ground seems to move underfoot. | Beaches of ocher, red and yellow: the season becomes a setting. |
| Remains | Sarcophagi and church remain legible; industry may appear nearby. | The tombs disappear almost entirely; Saint-Honorat is reduced to a landmark. |
| Figures | Small, fast walkers, sometimes caricatures, caught up in the movement. | Three more constructed silhouettes: two Arlesiennes and a man organize the scene. |
| Color | Intense and complementary contrasts, visible material, blue now altered in one version. | Saturated, subjective, decorative colors, placed in masses and hatching. |
| Reference | Diving perspective and framing nourished by Japanese prints. | Syntheticism: simplifying the form to prioritize idea and harmony. |
| Final effect | A landscape experienced physically, crossed by energy and melancholy. | A calm, almost timeless scene, where reality becomes composition. |
The complete series
Four Van Goghs, two Gauguins
The comparison is not limited to the two most reproduced verticals. The artists change format, distance and axis: the series shows their thinking in progress.
The ground becomes the subject
In the two views of "fallen leaves", the horizon almost disappears. The very close trunks and the bird's eye view are reminiscent of certain Japanese framing.
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All-yellow driveway
This second vertical monumentalizes the promenade. Sold for $66.3 million in 2015, it is one of the most famous versions of the series.
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The alley in width
In its second version, Gauguin uses the foliage corridor in horizontal format. The atmospheric movement remains, but the image remains held by broad accords of ocher and orange.
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The pattern survives the duo
Vallotton also returns to Alyscamps. This comparison reminds us that a famous site never belongs to a single artist: each era rebuilds its atmosphere.
See the work →Reference: the catalogs raisonnés identify in particular the two "fallen sheets" by F 486 /JH 1620 and F 487 /JH 1621. French titles vary according to collections and translations.
Work together
The common motive acts as an experience
Same terrain
The two painters move to a place close to the Yellow House, open enough to install the easels and quickly vary the points of view.
Opposing choices
Van Gogh seeks direct sensation and the cadence of the keys. Gauguin wants to go beyond description and construct a mental, synthetic image.
Reciprocal influence
The dialogue pushes Van Gogh towards more schematized compositions, while Gauguin measures his system by the light and colors of the South.
A decisive material detail
The burlap makes their dialogue visible
Technical studies have shown that Gauguin uses a coarse canvas close to the bag in Arles, and that Van Gogh uses the same type of support for two views of the Alyscamps. The frame remains perceptible under the paint: it hooks the brush, splits the keys and contributes to the rough appearance of the works. The companionship is therefore not only a biographical story; it can be read even in the material.
Tightened chronology
A few days before the methods diverged
Gauguin joins Arles
He moves in with Van Gogh in the Yellow House. The project for a "atelier du Midi" becomes, for a few weeks, a daily reality.
First views on the pattern
The artists work at Alyscamps. Gauguin frames walkers near the canal; Van Gogh looks out over the nearby alley, tombs and chimneys.
Return for autumnal splendor
On All Saints' Day, visitors pass through the cemetery. Van Gogh pushes the monumental perspective of an alley that he describes as "entirely yellow".
A joint letter to Émile Bernard
Vincent and Gauguin write from Arles. The notes linked to this correspondence identify the two versions of fallen sheets: the campaign is still recent and actively commented on.
Van Gogh says he is encouraged
To his sister Willemien, he explains that Gauguin often encourages him to work more imaginatively. This tension between observation and invention structures their stay.
The common project is shattered
Disagreements are piling up. After the crisis of December 23, Gauguin left Arles. The Alyscamps remain the clearest image of their first shared enthusiasm.
Eye guide
Four details to no longer confuse the versions
Extend Arles at home
Four paintings from the same living room
The Alyscamps belong to an exceptional moment in 1888. These neighboring works make it possible to compose a coherent whole around the city, the night and the Yellow House.
Frequently asked questions
The Alyscamps of Van Gogh and Gauguin
How many Alyscamps paintings did Van Gogh paint?
Van Gogh produced four oils dedicated to the Alyscamps during the campaign with Gauguin at the end of October and the beginning of November 1888: two more general views and two compositions often referred to as "fallen leaves".
How many did Gauguin paint?
Gauguin painted two main oils of the site: the vertical preserved at the Musée d'Orsay and a horizontal view today at the Sompo Museum of Art in Tokyo.
Where to see Gauguin's Alyscamps?
The famous vertical version from 1888 is kept at the Musée d'Orsay, in Paris, under inventory number RF 1938 47. Its presence in the room may vary depending on loans and rotations.
Where to see Van Gogh's versions?
A vertical is kept at the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation in Athens; a horizontal view of fallen leaves belongs to the Kroeller-Müller Museum in Otterlo. Other versions are from private collections.
Why is the place called Les Alyscamps?
The Provençal name refers to the "Champs Élysées", a place of stay for heroes and happy souls in ancient tradition. It designates the vast necropolis developed outside the Roman city of Arles.
Did Van Gogh and Gauguin use the same canvas?
Not the same piece of fabric, but the same type of coarse support close to burlap appears in several works in their living room. This visible weft reinforces the materiality of the touch.
Which Alyscamps painting sold for $66.3 million?
The vertical Alyscamps Alley, dated November 1, 1888, was sold for $66.33 million at Sotheby's in New York in May 2015.
Can we still visit the Alyscamps in Arles?
Yes. The alley, sarcophagi and religious remains still form a heritage site of Arles. The landscape has evolved since 1888, but the axis of the walk allows you to immediately understand the choices of the two painters.
Sources and benchmarks
- Musée d'Orsay - Paul Gauguin, The Alyscamps, notice of work.
- Kroeller-Müller Museum - Vincent van Gogh, Falling Leaves (The Alyscamps).
- Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation - Vincent van Gogh, The Alyscamps.
- Vincent van Gogh Letters - letter 717 and notes on both "Leaf-fall".
- Sotheby's - Alyscamps Alley, lot 18, 2015.
- National Gallery of Australia - Gauguin, Lane at Alyscamps, Arles.
The dates are given according to the institutional notices and catalogs cited. Titles vary in French depending on the museum: The Alyscamps, Alyscamps Alley, Fallen leaves or Falling leaves.
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