Digital Editions
Newsletters
Subscribe
Digital Editions
Newsletters
Art market
Museums & heritage
Exhibitions
Books
Podcasts
Columns
Technology
Adventures with Van Gogh
Art market
Museums & heritage
Exhibitions
Books
Podcasts
Columns
Technology
Adventures with Van Gogh
Francis Bacon
archive

Francis Bacon’s paintings of Van Gogh gather in Arles

Fondation Vincent van Gogh assembles the surviving paintings in this series

Emma Beatty
31 August 2002
Share

Between 1951 and 1956 Francis Bacon created a series of paintings in homage to Van Gogh’s “The painter on the road to Tarascon”, which was destroyed in World War II and only survives via reproduction. Painted in 1888, it shows Van Gogh carrying his easel and paints along a road through bright yellow and green fields, strong sunlight casting a black shadow of his figure. Bacon was so inspired that he walked along the road, near Arles in the south of France, himself. The eleven paintings that he created as a result were exhibited in 1957 at the Hanover Gallery in London and then dispersed to private collectors and museums. In 1985, Yollande Clergue, director of the Fondation Van Gogh in Arles, asked Bacon to paint one more picture of Van Gogh in Arles to celebrate the opening of the Van Gogh Foundation there in 1988. Bacon agreed with the proviso that the finished painting should never leave Arles; it never has, but now the other eleven paintings in the series have been brought to Arles (until 30 September). Despite the brilliance of colour and light in the south of France, Bacon’s interpretations are notably darker and more despondent than Van Gogh’s: the artist’s face has become a dark patch, the shadows more prominent. An exhibition of photographs of Bacon accompanies the show.

Francis BaconExhibitionsVincent van GoghPaintingFondation Vincent van Gogh
Share
Subscribe to The Art Newspaper’s digital newsletter for your daily digest of essential news, views and analysis from the international art world delivered directly to your inbox.
Newsletter sign-up
Information
About
Contact
Cookie policy
Data protection
Privacy policy
Frequently Asked Questions
Subscription T&Cs
Terms and conditions
Advertise
Sister Papers
Sponsorship policy
Follow us
Instagram
Bluesky
LinkedIn
Facebook
TikTok
YouTube
© The Art Newspaper

Related content

Exhibitionsnews
9 January 2025

National Gallery in London’s Van Gogh blockbuster to open all night as final day approaches

The exhibition, which will host a 24-hour opening during its closing weekend, has been one of the most visited in the museum’s history

Alexander Morrison
Adventures with Van Goghnews
25 March 2022

Discovered: Van Gogh’s fingerprint on an olive grove painting

The artist’s imprint was probably left when he carried the picture back to the asylum

Martin Bailey
Adventures with Van Goghblog
10 May 2024

'One of my great heroes': A new book on Francis Bacon sheds light on his admiration for Van Gogh

Bacon believed the Dutch artist deformed reality “to make it more real”

Martin Bailey