Arles Rhone river cruise: In wake of van Gogh

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This was published 8 years ago

Arles Rhone river cruise: In wake of van Gogh

By Kerry van der Jagt
The Avalon Poetry II.

The Avalon Poetry II.Credit: Avalon Waterways

The ghostly figure sits beside the curve of the Rhone, hunched over his easel, paintbrush poised, gaunt face lit by the glow of the full moon. Inching closer I steal a glance at his canvas, a riotous riverscape, where street lamps cast bold lines across the dark water, and an indigo sky is pinned in place by a constellation of fiery stars.

Lifting my eyes I stare at the heavens, unblinking, until my eyes lose focus and the liquid sky begins to pulse with a light of its own, the same luminous light that so captivated Vincent van Gogh. Looking back down, the figure has vanished in a puff of my own imagination, replaced by a colour image of van Gogh's Starry Night over the Rhone attached to the riverfront wall.

It's the witching hour before dawn, van Gogh's favourite time for painting, and I've stepped ashore in Arles under the cover of darkness. The cafes are long closed, market umbrellas folded like butterflies, their wings tucked tightly for the night. Treading quietly on cushioned soles I walk the cobbled lanes, gloriously lost in a sketch of charcoal and grey, the occasional upstairs light the only illumination.

A self-portrait by van Gogh: "I put my heart and soul into my work,'' he wrote, ''and have lost my mind in the process."

A self-portrait by van Gogh: "I put my heart and soul into my work,'' he wrote, ''and have lost my mind in the process."

Though I'd walked the streets the previous afternoon the light was too harsh, the crowds stifling, the endless sunflower tea towels irritating. I wanted solitude, to discover for myself what van Gogh had felt, to search for the colour between the shadows.

While van Gogh came to Arles in the south of France in 1888 for the blazing blue skies, he was equally enchanted by the night light, as he wrote in a letter to his sister: "Often it seems to me that the night is more richly coloured than the day, coloured with the most intense violets, blues and greens."

With the first blush of day sneaking across the flagstones I round a bend and there it is – the cafe from van Gogh's painting, Cafe Terrace at Night, glowing yellow in the burnished light. Later, the bistro tables and sunflower-yellow awnings will be rolled out, serving refreshments as it has for more than a century, but for now the wrought iron sign, Le Cafe La Nuit, is its only hint of fame.

Inside the hospital at Saint-Paul de Mausole in Saint-Remy-de-Provence where van Gogh was a patient.

Inside the hospital at Saint-Paul de Mausole in Saint-Remy-de-Provence where van Gogh was a patient.

Painted in 1888, this was van Gogh's first experiment with starry backgrounds. These signature swirls, which reached a crescendo during his time in the Saint-Paul Asylum, have a mind-bending vigour and movement of their own.

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In recent years scientists and mathematicians have studied these night skies and theorised that van Gogh had somehow managed to capture the deep mystery behind the phenomenon known as "turbulent flow". Using the Hubble Space Telescope, scientists noticed that the eddies of a distant cloud of dust and gas around a star resembled van Gogh's starry nights, which in turn led to the discovery that van Gogh's night swirls behaved in a remarkably similar way to turbulent fluid, still one of physics' mysteries. Learning of this, it is impossible not to be moved, seeing nature, art, science and imagination so inexplicably entwined.

Later that morning I join a tour of the hospital at Saint-Paul de Mausole​ in Saint-Remy-de-Provence, to see where van Gogh painted The Starry Night (1889). Driving there, under a screaming blue sky with sunflowers burning like sparklers, I'm reminded of the Doctor Who episode, Vincent and the Doctor (2010), where van Gogh shouts in despair: "I can hear the colours. Listen to them."

Van Gogh's room at the hospital at Saint-Paul de Mausole in Saint-Remy-de-Provence.

Van Gogh's room at the hospital at Saint-Paul de Mausole in Saint-Remy-de-Provence.Credit: Avalon Waterways

With his mental state failing, van Gogh signed himself into the asylum, where he spent a year (May 1889 to May 1890). How he managed to produce 243 artworks in just 53 weeks, including some of his best work, such as Irises and Self-Portrait, is nothing short of a miracle. Sadly, over his 10-year career he sold but one painting out of the 1000 artworks he produced.

Standing in the preserved room that van Gogh occupied for four seasons, and looking through the same iron-barred window, I squint against the light, trying to imagine the flaming cypress tree and curving, swirling stars, a celestial explosion only he could see. In a letter to his brother, Theo, van Gogh wrote, "I put my heart and soul into my work, and have lost my mind in the process."

Kerry van der Jagt was a guest of Avalon Waterways.

A copy of van Gogh's <i>The Starry Night</i>.

A copy of van Gogh's The Starry Night.Credit: Kerry van der Jagt

TRIP NOTES

MORE INFORMATION

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CRUISING THERE

Explore Burgundy and Provence with Avalon Waterways on an 11-day itinerary between Cote d'Azur and Paris, including a night and full day berthed in Arles. Prices start at $4395 a person twin share in a deluxe stateroom (lower deck) including one night on the Cote d'Azur, a seven-night cruise on the Rhone and Saone rivers on board Avalon Poetry II, and two nights in Paris. Fares include all meals, wine and beer with dinner, gratuities, transport, entrance fees and most tours. Phone 1300 230 234 or see avalonwaterways.com.au.

GETTING THERE

Cathay Pacific operates several flights a day from Sydney and Melbourne, via Hong Kong, to key European gateways, including arrival and departure points for Avalon Waterways' cruises. See cathaypacific.com.au

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