Teaching Activity: Debate

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Van Gogh and Gauguin spent a few months together in Arles between late October and late December 1888. During this time the two of them painted several subjects that point up their distinct artistic styles and personalities. Divide the class into two groups. One group will study at least three works Van Gogh made during this period, and the other group will do the same for Gauguin. Students should investigate the artist's working method for the selected paintings. Have a representative for each group debate the relative merits of the artist's approach to painting and the results.

Three resources for illustrations and commentary include Van Gogh in Arles, a catalogue by Ronald Pickvance published in 1984 by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The Art of Paul Gauguin, an exhibition catalogue published by the National Gallery of Art in 1988; and Van Gogh Museum by Ronald de Leeuw, published in 1997. Compare, for example:

The Red Vineyard by Van Gogh, Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow

Grape Gathering: Human Misery by Gauguin, Ordupgaard Collection, Copenhagen

The Night Café by Van Gogh, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven

At the Café by Gauguin, Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow

Les Alyscamps by Van Gogh, Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo

Les Alyscamps by Gauguin, Musée d'Orsay, Paris

Old Woman from Arles by Van Gogh, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)

Old Women at Arles by Gauguin, Art Institute of Chicago

Farmhouse in Provence by Van Gogh, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection

Farmhouse in Arles by Gauguin, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm

Vase with Sunflowers by Van Gogh, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)

Van Gogh Painting Sunflowers by Gauguin, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)

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