IDENTITY

Letter 720 — Expressive Colour & Memory

Arles, 1888

Content Summary

On 12 November 1888 at Arles, Van Gogh discusses deliberately orchestrating colour from memory rather than simply reproducing the immediate appearance of the motif.

Memory of the Garden at Etten (Ladies of Arles) — Vincent van Gogh

CONTEXT

Topics

Expressive Colour, Memory, Deliberate colour orchestration

Materials & Pigments

Related People

Vincent van Gogh, Gauguin, Zola, Maupassant

Paintings

RESEARCH

Quotation

Research Focus

The letter documents the increasing importance of memory and intentional colour organization in Van Gogh’s practice, with colour serving expressive construction rather than literal transcription.

Related Work / Relevance

SOURCES & EVIDENCE

Source Type

Letter

Source

Letter 720

Source Edition

Vincent van Gogh — The Letters, scholarly online edition (Van Gogh Museum / Huygens ING)

Source URL

https://vangoghletters.org/en/let720

Evidence Type

Primary Source, Scholarly Annotation