Van Gogh's Chair

Van Gogh's Chair, currently held by the National Gallery, London

Van Gogh's Chair is a painting created in 1888 by Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh. It is currently held by the National Gallery, London.

The painting shows a rustic wooden chair, with a simple woven straw seat, on a tiled floor. On the chair seat is a decorated pipe and a pouch of pipe tobacco.

Background

On 7 May 1888 Van Gogh moved from the Hôtel Carrel to the Café de la Gare, at Arles, in the south of France.^[1] He had befriended the proprietors, Joseph and Marie Ginoux. The Yellow House, at 2 place Lamartine, had to be furnished before he could fully move in, but he was able to use it as a studio.^[2] He wanted a gallery to display his work, and started a series of paintings that eventually included Van Gogh's Chair (1888), Bedroom in Arles (1888), The Night Café (1888), Cafe Terrace at Night (September 1888), Starry Night Over the Rhone (1888), and Still Life: Vase with Twelve Sunflowers (1888), all intended for the decoration for the Yellow House.^[3]

References

• Callow, Philip (1990). Vincent van Gogh: A Life. Ivan R. Dee. ISBN 978-1-56663-134-1. 
• Gayford, Martin (2006). The Yellow House: Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Nine Turbulent Weeks in Arles. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-670-91497-5. 
• Pickvance, Ronald (1984). "(exh. cat)". Van Gogh in Arles. Abrams. ISBN 978-0-87099-375-6. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

1. ↑ Gayford (2006), 16.
2. ↑ Callow (1990), 219.
3. ↑ Pickvance (1984), 175–176.