The remarkable Fondation Vincent van Gogh in Arles features one of the best exhibitions of the Summer and an exceptional loan from the collection of the Musée d’Orsay: Van Gogh’s famous “cosmic poem” Starry Night (Arles, Sept. 1888). The return of this work a few metres from where it was painted, on the banks of the Rhône is highly symbolic for the city of Arles and marks a key moment in the history of the painting itself.

“A starry night is something I should like to try to do.” Van Gogh wrote to fellow painter Émile Bernard. And he succeeded in painting a work that is poetic, material, and vivid. “Van Gogh took his view from the small port at the northern end of Arles, on the edge of Place Lamartine. He must have stood on the embankment, just above a sandbar that was used for loading and unloading boats. His home, the Yellow House, lay just three minutes’ walk away on the other side of the public garden. The view of the Rhône is one that he would have seen virtually every day.” Martin Bailey brillantly writes in an in-depth piece in The Art Newspaper.

Van Gogh and the Stars is co-curated by Jean de Loisy and Bice Curiger, and it showcases the intellectual labour and research that Van Gogh achieved throughout his life, motivated by his surroundings as well as his inner vision, torments, and sharp sense of observation.

A display of the research that attracted the public to themes of astronomy and meteorology, alongside the works of renowned scientific illustrators Étienne Léopold Trouvelot and Lord Ross, introduce the public to the distinctive literary and scientific courants that emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century.

The exhibition also explores how its starting point, Starry Night resonates today with over 76 other artists influenced by art history’s obsession with constellations. This iconic nighttime landscape has had a significant impact on art developments, as evidenced by the works of key artists included in the exhibition, such as Victor Hugo, Gustave Doré, Edvard Munch, Kasimir Malevitch, Georgia O’Keeffe, Helen Frankenthaler, and others.

It’s an absolute treat to see this works juxtaposed with Van Gogh’s iconic painting before it travels to London for Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers presented at the National Gallery from 14th September. The Arles show also gathers the works of his contemporaries including James Ensor, Odilon Redon, Alberto Giacometti, Paul Klee, and culminates with a stunning installation by Mariko Mori, who reaches for metaphysical dimensions.

With Starry Night returning to the banks of the river that inspired it, ‘this trip to the stars’ also dialogues with important installations, paintings and drawings by Anselm Kiefer, Dove Allouche, Yves Klein, Lee Bontecou, and other artists.

And it’s not all, there are more Van Gogh in this fantastic show:  Evening (after Milet)  (October-November 1889, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam) and the drawing Wheatfield with Rising Sun (November 1889, Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, Munich).

Last chance to visit it. The show is on view in the picturesque city of Arles, in the South of France until 8th September.

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Images: Vincent Van Gogh, The Starry Night Over the Rhone (1888). Photo: © Musée d’Orsay, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Patrice Schmidt., view of the exhibition (c) Fondation Van Gogh, Arles and artwork by SMITH, Autoportrait, 2021.

Thank you Pierre Collet and the Fondation Van Gogh.