The Painter on the Road to Tarascon

Painting by Vincent van Gogh

The Painter on the Road to Tarascon

Artist	Vincent van Gogh
Year	1888

The Painter on the Road to Tarascon, also known as Painter on His Way to Work, is a 1888 painting by Vincent van Gogh that is believed to have been destroyed during the Second World War during an air raid on Germany.^[1]

Description

The painting depicts the artist on his way to work, and it is thought to be the first self-portrait that van Gogh painted during his time in Arles.^[2] On August 13, 1888, Vincent van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo, telling him about a series of recent studies. He mentioned: “For example, there's a quick sketch I made of myself laden with boxes, sticks, a canvas, on the sunny Tarascon road."^[3]^[4]

History

The painting was purchased by the Kaiser-Friedrich Museum, Germany (now the Kulturhistorisches Museum Magdeburg) in 1912. It was one of the first paintings by van Gogh to enter a public collection. It was photographed in color in the 1930s, an uncommon and costly practice at the time.^[5]^[4]

During World War II, the collection of the Kaiser-Friedrich Museum was transported to a salt mine in the nearby town of Stassfurt, in order to protect it from Allied bombing. Later, in April 1945, fires broke out at the mine after American forces reached the site. While reports by Monuments Men noted that the contents of the mine had been "entirely reduced to ashes", part of the collection was recovered after the war.^[5] Some believe that the fires may have been arson, in order to disguise the looting of the artworks.^[4]

The painting is listed as "missing" on the Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art's website.^[5]

Influence

The work has influenced numerous modern artists, serving as an especially important inspiration to Francis Bacon,^[6] who produced a series of painting based on The Painter on the Road to Tarascon in 1956-1957.^[7]^[8]

References

^ "Missing in action: artworks presumed to have been destroyed in the war". the Guardian. 2013-11-04. Retrieved 2022-08-18.
^ Van Gogh in Arles. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1981. p. 171.
^ Vincent van Gogh Letter #660. To Theo van Gogh. Arles, on or about Monday, 13 August 1888.
^ ^a ^b ^c Bailey, Martin (27 November 2020). "Hunt still on for a Van Gogh self-portrait lost deep in a salt mine during the Second World War". The Art Newspaper.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890). The Painter on the Way to Tarascon (1888)". Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
^ Stevens, Mark; Swan, Annalyn (2021). Francis Bacon: Revelations. Knopf. p. 388.
^ "The Francis Bacon MB Art Foundation produces its first documentary, Bacon: the Van Gogh Sequence". Francis Bacon MB Art Foundation. 22 October 2020.
^ "Study for a Portrait of Van Gogh I. Francis Bacon". Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The painter on his way to work.

Lost Art database entry: [1]

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