Décoration for the Yellow House

1888 painting series by Vincent van Gogh

Décoration for the Yellow House was the main project Vincent van Gogh focused on in Arles, from August 1888 until his breakdown the day before Christmas. This Décoration had no pre-defined form or size; the central idea of the Décoration grew step by step, with the progress of his work. Starting with the Sunflowers, portraits were included in the next step. Finally, mid-September 1888, the idea took shape: from this time on he concentrated on size 30 canvases (Toiles de 30), which were all meant to form part of this Décoration.^[1]

First idea: The Sunflowers, August 1888

Vase with Three Sunflowers
(Arles, August 1888)
Private collection
Vase with Six Sunflowers
(Arles, August 1888)
Private collection, Japan, destroyed by fire in World War II on 6 August 1945 [1]
Vase with Twelve Sunflowers
(Arles, August 1888)
Neue Pinakothek, Munich
Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers
(Arles, August 1888)
National Gallery, London

Second step: The Portraits, September - October 1888

Joseph Roulin
(The Postmaster)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Patience Escalier
(The Old Peasant)
Private collection
Eugène Boch
(The Poet)
Musée d'Orsay, Paris
Paul-Eugène Milliet
(The Lover)
Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo

Third step and definite solution: The Toiles de 30-Décoration, October - December 1888

The Night Café
(September 1888)
Yale University Art Gallery
The Yellow House
(September 1888)
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
Starry Night Over the Rhone
(September 1888)
Musée d'Orsay, Paris
Public Garden
Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo
Public garden
Phillips Collection, Washington D.C.
Garden of the Poet III
(October 1888)
Private collection
Railway Bridge
(October 1888)
Private collection
Trinquetaille Bridge
(October 1888)
Private collection
Bedroom in Arles
(October 1888)
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
Les Alyscamps
(October 1888)
Private collection
The Red Vineyard
(November 1888) sold to Anna Boch^[2]
Moscow
Van Gogh's Chair
(November 1888)
National Gallery, London
Gauguin's Armchair
(November 1888)
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
In the Library
(November 1888)
Private collection
Souvenir du jardin
(November 1888)
Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg
Les Arènes
(December 1888)
Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg
L'Arlésienne
(November 1888)
Musée d'Orsay, Paris
La Berceuse
(December 1888)
Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo

For a related project by Van Gogh executed at the same time, in November/December 1888, see The Roulin Family series

Epilogue: The Toiles de 30, January - April 1889

Repetitions

Vase with Twelve Flowers
(Arles, January 1889)
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia
Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers
(Arles, January, 1889)
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers
(Arles, January 1889)
Sompo Japan Museum of Art, Tokyo
La Berceuse
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
L'Arlésienne
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Spring Subjects

View of Arles, Flowering Orchards, spring 1889
Neue Pinakothek, Munich

Continuation

Later, in Saint-Rémy as well as in Auvers, size 30 canvases form the body of Van Gogh's work, and he continued conceiving series and groups of work based on this size. See The Wheat Field, the Copies by Vincent van Gogh and the Display at Les XX 1890, all from Saint-Rèmy, and the Auvers size 30 canvases.

Resources

Notes

^ This fact, widely neglected for decades, recently seems to have become common knowledge; see Zemel, Schneede.
^ The Red Vineyard, the only painting van Gogh sold during his lifetime

References

Roland Dorn (1990). Décoration: Vincent van Goghs Werkreihe für das Gelbe Haus in Arles. Georg Olms Verlag. ISBN 978-3-487-09098-6.

Vincent van Gogh

General

Groups of
works

Early works (1881–82)
Portraits (1881–1890)
Peasant Character Studies (1881–1885)
Van Gogh's family in his art (1881–1888)
Sien (1882–83)
Cottages (1883–1885)
Water Mill at Gennep (1884)
Still life paintings, Netherlands (1884–85)
Old Church Tower at Nuenen (1884–85)
Amsterdam (1885)
Wheat Fields (1885–1890)
Le Moulin de la Galette (1886)
Still life paintings, Paris (1886–87)
Montmartre (1886–87)
Self portraits (1886–1889)
Outskirts of Paris (1887)
Asnières (1887)
Seine (1887)
Japonaiserie (1887)
Sunflowers (1887–1889)
Trees and Undergrowth (1887–1890)
Copies by Vincent van Gogh (1887–1890)
Langlois Bridge at Arles (1888)
Saintes-Maries (1888)
Boats du Rhône (1888)
Décoration for the Yellow House (1888)
The Roulin Family (1888–89)
Hospital in Arles (1888–89)
Flowering Orchards (1888–89)
Almond Blossoms (1888–1890)
Paintings of Children (1888–1890)
The Wheat Field (1889)
Reaper (1889)
Olive Trees (1889)
Wheat Fields (1889)
Butterflies (1889–90)
Saint-Paul Asylum, Saint-Rémy (1889–90)
Auvers size 30 canvases (1890)
Auvers Double-squares and Squares (1890)
Lost works by Vincent van Gogh
Display at Les XX, 1890

Oil paintings

1882	Beach at Scheveningen in Stormy Weather Girl in White in the Woods Lying Cow A Girl in the Street, Two Coaches in the Background
1883	Cows in the Meadow Farmhouses Among Trees Bulb Fields Landscape with a Church at Twilight Landscape with Dunes Footbridge across a Ditch Marshy Landscape A Wind-Beaten Tree Farm with Stacks of Peat Farmhouses in Loosduinen near The Hague at Twilight Three Figures near a Canal with Windmill
1884	Two Rats Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen Landscape with Pollard Willows Cart with Black Ox Cart with Red and White Ox Lane in Autumn Water Mill at Opwetten Water Mill at Kollen Village at Sunset Avenue of Poplars in Autumn Avenue of Poplars at Sunset Head of an Old Farmer's Wife in a White Hat
1885	Still Life with Straw Hat The Potato Eaters Peasant Woman Digging Peasant Woman Digging Up Potatoes Skull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette
1886	Vase with Red Poppies Vase with White and Red Carnations The Kingfisher
1887	Poppy Flowers Wheat Field with a Lark View of Paris from Vincent's Room in the Rue Lepic Portrait of Père Tanguy A Woman Walking in a Garden Imperial Fritillaries in a Copper Vase Agostina Segatori Sitting in the Café du Tambourin Red Cabbages and Garlic
1888	Madame Roulin and Her Baby Landscape with Snow La Mousmé The Zouave Still Life: Vase with Oleanders The Night Café The Yellow House Van Gogh's Chair Café Terrace at Night Starry Night Over the Rhône Portrait of the Artist's Mother Bedroom in Arles The Painter on the Road to Tarascon Les Alyscamps A Lane in the Public Garden at Arles Falling Autumn Leaves L'Arlésienne The Red Vineyard Memory of the Garden at Etten (Ladies of Arles) Les Arènes Interior of a Restaurant in Arles A Lane near Arles Arles: View from the Wheat Fields Sunset at Montmajour Farmhouse in Provence Orchard with Cypresses
1889	Valley with Ploughman Seen from Above View of Arles, Flowering Orchards Portrait of Doctor Rey Crab on its Back Two Crabs Irises Lilac Bush The Starry Night The Gardener Self-portrait (1889) Self-portrait without beard Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear A Meadow in the Mountains: Le Mas de Saint-Paul A Road at Saint-Remy with Female Figure Enclosed Field with Peasant Rain Cypresses Wheat Field with Cypresses Green Wheat Field with Cypress The Diggers The Ravine of the Peyroulets Ivy View of the Asylum and Chapel of Saint-Rémy The Large Plane Trees
1890	The Siesta Road with Cypress and Star At Eternity's Gate Thatched Cottages and Houses Portrait of Dr. Gachet Doctor Gachet's Garden in Auvers Houses at Auvers White House at Night Landscape with a Carriage and a Train Girl in White The Church at Auvers Daubigny's Garden Farms near Auvers The Cows The Town Hall at Auvers Blossoming Chestnut Branches Peasant Woman Against a Background of Wheat Still Life: Vase with Pink Roses Portrait of Adeline Ravoux Plain near Auvers Wheatfield Under Thunderclouds Wheatfield with Crows Prisoners' Round (after Gustave Doré) Tree Roots Landscape at Auvers in the Rain Poppy Field