Vincent van Gogh
Dutch, 1853­1890
The Bedroom
1889
Oil on canvas
73.6 x 92.3 cm
Helen Birch Bartlett Memorial Collection, 1926.417

In 1888, after living several years in Paris, the painter van Gogh moved to Arles in the south of France, and invited other artists to come and work alongside him there. This view of his bedroom is one of a series of paintings he made to decorate his “little yellow house” while he waited for his artist friend Gauguin to arrive.

The bedroom is full of bright colors, dramatic perspective, and pictures tilting off the walls. Van Gogh hoped it would appear peaceful and relaxing. Do you find it restful—or does it seem restless and full of energy?