entrance fondation van goghThe Fondation Vincent van Gogh is a new gallery in Arles dedicated to the artist who immortalised the city in some of his greatest work.

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Van Gogh lived for just 15 months in Arles, in 1888-1889, before committing himself to the psychiatric asylum in nearby Saint Paul de Mausole.

His time here was brief, then. But his art reached a new peak, as he discovered the intense light, passions and colours of the South.

He created hundreds of works in Arles, including some of his best-known and greatest paintings. Click here to read more about them, and about exploring the town in his footsteps.

Today, posters and souvenirs on sale all over Arles remind you of van Gogh's visit (and try to cash in on it). But you couldn't see any of his actual work here. Until now.

The Fondation Vincent van Gogh was created in 1983 to promote the artist's work in Arles. But the real game-changer came more recently, in 2014, when the foundation opened a new, stunning gallery with the facilities to host prestigious shows.

fondation van gogh urs fischerIts base is in the mediaeval quarter of Arles, in the 15th century Hôtel Léautaud de Donines, once a hôtel particulier (private town house) belonging to a wealthy merchant.

It's just round the corner from the Musée Réattu, and many of the sites which van Gogh painted while he was in Arles.

This mansion has been given a lavish 21st century makeover. Around 11 million €uros have been spent on transforming the interior into a complex of flexible and luminous modular spaces that can exhibit both small and very large scale works.

The emphasis throughout is on the light of Provence that once dazzled van Gogh. Pictured: An installation paying tribute to van Gogh by the Swiss artist Urs Fischer at the Fondation in the winter of 2016-2017.

The gallery's total capacity is 1,000 square metres / 10,700 square feet and it has all been adapted to modern international standards of security and climate control.

So the venue itself is very swish. But the Fondation Vincent van Gogh doesn't have its own collection, let alone any actual paintings by the man whose name it bears. In fact, no museum in Arles possesses a single piece by van Gogh.

So, to compensate, the Fondation's Artistic Director, Bice Curiger, has developed a canny two-pronged policy: to host temporary loans of pieces by van Gogh and to devise exhibitions around contemporary artists inspired by him.

And one painting, loaned by the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, remains on display in Arles all year round, changing each spring.

NewsThe big summer 2024 exhibition has an unbeatable centrepiece: van Gogh's world-famous La Nuit étoilée (Starry Night - in English it's known as Starry Night Over the Rhône to distinguish it from another Starry Night, which Vincent painted a little later in Saint Rémy de Provence.)

On loan from its usual permanent home in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, it is on display here in Arles, just a few metres from where Vincent set up his easel on the banks of the river in 1888.

The exhibition also includes work by other artists fascinated by the stars, from Edvard Munch to Anselm Kiefer. Here's what the Fondation has to say about it: "Through a variety of scientific, historical, and poetic approaches, the work of past and present artists will shed new light on Van Gogh’s work, highlighting its legacy and unshakeable strength...

starry night over the rhone"...The exhibition Van Gogh and the Stars will highlight the erudite work and research carried out by Vincent van Gogh throughout his life, driven by his inner vision, his torments, his acute sense of observation, but also by his environment.

"The unique literary and scientific climate that developed in the second half of the nineteenth century will also be presented to the public, through an exhibition of the research that fascinated the public at the time."

It sounds like a must-see for art-lovers in Provence this summer. 1 June-8 October. (NB, Starry Night is only in Arles until 25 August).

In previous years shows have been mounted on the themes Couleurs du nord, couleurs du sud (Colours of the North, Colours of the South) (2014), van Gogh's drawings (2015), van Gogh in Provence (2016) and "calm and exaltation", with eight paintings by van Gogh from the EG Bührle Collection in Zurich and the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam (2017).

In 2018 Soleil chaud, soleil tardif (Hot Sun, Late Sun) explored the relationship of van Gogh to other artists, in particular Picasso, and the way they were influenced by the Mediterranean light.

van gogh sower setting sunThe summer 2019 exhibition at the Fondation Vincent van Gogh displayed works by the Georgian artist Niko Pirosmani alongside paintings by van Gogh. In summer 2021 a show examined the influence of van Gogh on the American artist Laura Owens.

These included Madame Ginoux, one of his iconic portraits of Arlésiennes (women of Arles in traditional dress) and Sower with Setting Sun (Semeur au soleil couchant), pictured, which van Gogh painted in the countryside around Arles. These shows attract thousands of visitors.

Museums worldwide are massively reluctant to loan out van Gogh's work. It's a sign of how respected the Fondation has quickly become that it has been able to secure such loans and to stage some very ambitious shows.

The man behind it all was the Swiss philanthropist and conservationist Luc Hoffman, who also founded the World Wildlife Fund and had formerly been involved in major environmental projects in the Camargue.

His daughter, Maja, has created the huge LUMA Arles cultural campus on the edge of the city. Recently completed, it confirms Arles as a must-visit focal point in Provence for modern art.

The Fondation Vincent van Gogh is also of note for its architecture. While visiting it, you should check out the roof terrace, which has great views over the rooftops of Arles, Bertrand Lavier's entrance portal, pictured top left, designed around van Gogh's distinctive signature and the glass roof sculpture, pictured, by Raphael Hefti that, on sunny days, casts a shimmering play of multi-coloured shapes into the gift shop.

raphael hefti fondation van goghBut the art is the thing, of course. You can't visit Arles without bumping into the Vincent's ghost. Now, finally, you can see some of his masterpieces here too.

Where: Fondation Vincent van Gogh, 35 ter rue du Docteur Fanton, 13200 Arles Website for the Fondation Vincent van Gogh in Arles

Insider tip for the Fondation Vincent van Gogh in ArlesIf you are planning to visit several sites, check out the combination tickets on sale at the Arles Tourist Office which will get you reduced-price admission (and free admission for an accompanied child under 18) to the city's main museums and monuments.

Find further reading on Amazon:

Click here to buy The Letters of Vincent van Gogh, here to buy The Yellow House by the art critic Martin Gayford, an account of van Gogh's tumultuous nine weeks in Arles with Paul Gauguin, and here to buy Van Gogh's Ear by Bernadette Murphy, a new look at the facts behind the notorious ear-severing incident.

Photo credits (from top): © Hervé Hôte, SJ for Marvellous Provence, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, Hervé Hôte.

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