1886 -1888 · Montmartre, avant-gardes and color revolution

In Paris, Van Gogh gradually abandoned the dark lands of the North for the complementary colors, Japonism, self-portraits and luminous landscapes of Montmartre.

Vincent van Gogh arrived in Paris in March 1886 and moved in with his brother Theo, rue Laval then rue Lepic in Montmartre. These two years radically transformed his painting. In the Netherlands, his palette was dominated by browns, deep greens and worker scenes. In Paris, Theo introduced him to impressionist and neo-impressionist research. Van Gogh saw the works of Monet, Pissarro, Degas and Seurat; he interacts with Signac, Toulouse-Lautrec, Émile Bernard and Gauguin; he interacts with Signac, Toulouse-Lautrec, Émile Bernard and Seurat; he interacts with Signac, Toulouse-Lautrec, Émile Bernard and Seurat; he interacts with Signac, Toulouse-Lautrec, Émile Bernard and Seurat; he interacts with Signac, Toulouse-Lautrec, Émile Bernard and Seurat; he interacts with Signac, Toulouse-Lautrec, Émile Bernard and Seurat; he interacts with Signac, Toulouse-Lautrec, Émile Bernard and Seurat; he interacts with Signac, Toulouse-Lautrec, Émile Bernard and Seurat; he interacts with Signac, Toulouse-Lautrec, É flowers. Red and green, blue and orange, yellow and purple become active couples rather than isolated tones. The self-portraits offer him a model that is always available: beard, hat and eyes change while the touch fragments and brightens. Montmartre provides another laboratory. Mills, quarries, allotment gardens and wastelands show the border between modern Paris and the countryside. In Asnières and along the Seine, the landscapes gain clarity. Van Gogh also collected hundreds of Japanese prints, organized an exhibition at the Café du Tambourin and assimilated oblique, flat framing and contours. When he left Paris for Arles in February 1888, he owned already the means that will bring out his Provençal maturity. The Parisian period is therefore not a simple transition: it is the workshop where his color, his touch and his idea of the modern artist are completely reconstructed. The "Van Gogh in Paris" selection notably compares Street Scene in Montmartre and Portrait of Himself with Japanese prints. His reading favors color.

Paris teaches Van Gogh that color can think: each complement, each touch and each framing becomes an expressive decision.