''Les Alyscamps'' (or 'L'Allée des Alyscamps') is a pair of paintings ("pendants") by Dutch painter

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...

. Painted in 1888 in

Arles Arles (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Arle ; Classical la, Arelate) is a coastal city and commune in the South of France, a subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the former province of ...

, France, it depicts autumnal scenes in the

Alyscamps The Alyscamps is a large Roman necropolis, which is a short distance outside the walls of the old town of Arles, France. It was one of the most famous necropolises of the ancient world. The name comes from the Provençal Occitan word ''Alisca ...

, an ancient Roman necropolis in Arles which is lined with poplars and stone sarcophagi. Van Gogh also made another pair of paintings, '' Falling Autumn Leaves'' and Paul Gauguin made his own version of Les Alycamps.

Auction

One of the paintings was last auctioned in November 2003, selling for $11,767,500 at an auction in New York despite predictions that it might fetch between $12 and $18 million. Another of the paintings sold on May 5, 2015, for the sum of $66.3 million.

Les Alyscamps

Following months of correspondence,

Paul Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetist style that were distinct fr ...

joined Van Gogh in Arles in October 1888. Both were intent on depicting a "non-naturalist landscape". The paintings are of the first works that Van Gogh and Gauguin painted following Gauguin's arrival. Van Gogh and Gauguin visited an ancient Roman necropolis, "Les Alyscamps", which had been built by the Romans outside city walls. Over time the grounds were overtaken by factories and the railroad, leaving the ''Allee des Tombeaux'', (the avenue of tombs), a lane of shady poplar trees that led to a Romanesque chapel. This lane was known throughout France as a ''

lovers' lane A lovers' lane is a secluded area where people kiss, make out, or engage in sexual activity. These areas range from parking lots in secluded rural areas to places with extraordinary views of a cityscape or other features. "Lovers' lanes" are t ...

'' (the women of Arles celebrated for their beauty). The couples depicted in the painting are taking a romantic stroll in the evening and it was this aspect of the scene that especially attracted the artists' attention. The two artists painted some identical subjects to compare their work with each other and chose the site of the Alyscamps to paint and compare. They produced several works, including this painting, Van Gogh's '' Falling Autumn Leaves (Les Alyscamps)'' and Gauguin's ''Alyscamps''.

The paintings

The pair of paintings were made by Van Gogh and Gauguin soon after Gauguin arrived in Arles. The painting portrays an ancient Roman cemetery, "Les Alyscamps" or "Elysian Fields" which were located south east of the Roman city walls. Through careful analysis it appears that the two men worked together at Les Alyscamps between October 28 and 31, just before an onslaught of heavy rains that forced them indoors. Van Gogh painted four views, this Les Alyscamps pair and the pair of '' Falling Autumn Leaves'' paintings. Gauguin produced two paintings.

Van Gogh's other Les Alyscamps paintings

Van Gogh made another pair of paintings at Les Alyscamps called '' Falling Autumn Leaves''. File:Alyscamps van gogh.jpg, ''Falling Autumn Leaves''
1888

Kröller-Müller Museum The Kröller-Müller Museum () is a national art museum and sculpture garden, located in the Hoge Veluwe National Park in Otterlo in the Netherlands. The museum, founded by art collector Helene Kröller-Müller within the extensive grounds of ...

, Otterlo (F486) File:Van gogh alyscamps other.jpg, ''Falling Autumn Leaves''
1888
Private collection (F487)

Gauguin's paintings

For his painting of ''Les Alyscamps'', painted on the same day as Van Gogh's, Gauguin chose a different vantage point from Van Gogh, and excluded any reference to ancient sarcophagi. Image:Paul Gauguin 085.jpg,

, ''Les Alyscamps''
1888
Musée d'Orsay, Paris Image:Lane at Alchamps, Arles 1888 Paul Gauguin.jpg,

, ''Allée des Alyscamps''
1888
Seiji Togo Memorial Sompo Japan Museum of Art, Tokyo

References