The brothel

Perhaps it is no exaggeration to say that Vincent van Gogh was a regular at the brothels. In some periods of the artist's life women of easy virtue was probably not the only one to whom he could turn for support and understanding. And get them, even for money. Frequent visits to prostitutes, of course, sad impact on the health of Vincent however , these women often helped him in his work, becoming his models. The painting "the Brothel" was written in the autumn of 1888 when van Gogh lived in Arles. And, most likely, the worker of this institution played an important role in the fate of the artist.

As you know, in history with a cut off van Gogh's ear appeared some prostitute Rochelle, which the artist or sent, or even personally brought their bloody "present". There is an opinion that this woman was the main cause of the quarrel between the two artists as Vincent felt for Rochelle affection, and loving Gauguin, it's not. Perhaps with such an extravagant gift, van Gogh wanted to show the woman the full depth of his feelings.

We can assume that the painting "the Brothel" shows the place where he worked for Rochelle, because Arles was a small town, and similar institutions, it was hardly much. With rather meager means of expression, van Gogh managed to convey an intimate and slightly sinister atmosphere in the brothel. In a letter to Theo, talking about a friend of his cloth – "Night cafe" - the artist paints what he wanted "to Express the fatal passion, which motivates people with red and green". But if the "Night café" was dominated by the color red, here the first violin plays green. As if gradually coming twilight, this color absorbs the paintings on the walls, desks and clothes of the characters, makes faces in devoid of personality masks. Remain only the bright parts can not be this depersonalizing "swampy" atmosphere – like Golden-warm lamps on the wall or a bright red smear of lip women in the foreground.

Author: Eugene Sidelnikov