The Eyes of Van Gogh

Genius on the edge of madness has been a destination of the path several times, including my article I am a camera - Vincent van Gogh. So I was interested to receive this email from Alexander Barnett:

I am the writer director of the just released film, 'The Eyes of Van Gogh." The film shows the horrific year that Vincent spent at the insane asylum of St. Remy. In the article 'I Am A Camera' there are some major discrepancies which I must point out. 'His period of intense creativity there changed the course of western art.' Vincent did indeed do some excellent work there but in spite of brilliant exceptions, his greatest work, by far, was that of his Arlesian period, Feb. 1888 to May 1889.

'During his confinement this remarkable institution encouraged his painting and gave him the facilities and space to work...The far sighted Doctor Peyron was practicing an early form of art therapy...Saint Paul de Mausole is an inspirational establishment that pioneered the treatment of psychiatric illness and it still continues today the therapies that fanned the flames of Van Gogh's creativity.' The institution of St Remy never encouraged Vincent to work, on the contrary, Dr. Peyron opposed the idea from the very beginning and with the greatest reluctance allowed him to paint.

I am very glad to hear that they now offer workshops in art therapy, etc. but this was definitely not the case when Vincent was there. The sole treatment was hydrotherapy-hot baths, twice a week. The idea of any kind of work was anathema. There were no books in the asylum, no distractions except bowls and draughts. Vincent found it loathsome that they were given nothing to do. As he said, they were like vegetables, sitting around all day eating, digesting and waiting for their next meal. If the authorities today claim otherwise they're lying. Vincent's letters prove it. Vincent suffered four attacks at St. Remy. After the final one Dr. Peyron forbid him to paint in spite of his pleading. It was then that he left St.Remy. For those who would like to see what really happened at St Remy check out my film, 'The Eyes of Van Gogh - Alexander Barnett.


Discussion and exploration is what On An Overgrown Path is all about, so I'm more than happy to publish this email; but I would politely disagree with claims of 'lying' and 'major discrepancies'. My article was based on a visit to Saint Paul de Mausole (which is when I took the photo above and the others in my article). The institution's own account was then checked against several independent sources. David Sweetman's The Love of Many Things - A Life of Vincent Van Gogh (Hodder & Stoughton ISBN 03405037260) corroborates the official version with passages such as the following:

'Peyron arranged for Vincent's studio room to overlook the garden and was happy that the patient should occupy himself with painting, provided he did not exert himself too much.'

Elsewhere Jean Leymarie's Van Gogh (Skira ISBN 0333242203) explains that Dr Peyron's reasons for stopping van Gogh from painting was due to fear that the artist would self-harm by swallowing the poisonous pigments. Jean Leymarie explains how ...

... during his attacks Van Gogh did no painting. He acted like one possessed, trying to swallow raw paint from the tubes and rolling in the coal bin.

As for the relative creative importance of Van Gogh's output in Arles and St Rémy the authority on Van Gogh, Jean Leymarie, writes:

Over a hundred and fifty paintings and a hundred drawings in one year betoken, not illness, but a heroic victory over illness and make Saint-Rémy, for all the interruptions he suffered, one of the highpoints of his career. "Never perhaps," said Emile Bernard, "did he paint so well and so boldly." ... After Arles there was no falling off in the intensity of his art, but it changed poles, it passed from color to form or rather to the movement of form, from the exaltation of color to linear dynamism."

The same picture seen through different eyes I guess. And here, to remind us of his genius, are the olive trees at Saint-Rémy seen through the eyes of Vincent Van Gogh.


Now read about an opera set in a mental hospital.
Header photo is still from The Eyes of Van Gogh, the middle photo is by Pliable and copyright On An Overgrown Path. The painting above, Olive Trees with Yellow Sky and Sun, is exhibited at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Report broken links, missing images and other errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

I am a camera - Vincent Van Gogh

On 24th December 1888 Vincent Van Gogh threatened Paul Gauguin and cut off the lobe of his own left ear. Eighty local residents in Arles signed a petition demanding that he was confined, and in May 1889 Van Gogh commited himself to the insane asylum in Saint Rémy de Provence. When he arrived at the asylum he was met by Doctor Théophile Peyron, the director. The doctor welcomed his new guest who calmly undertook the admission formalities, and confirmed his request for voluntary confinement.

The house was vast and partly unoccupied, thirty rooms were empty and Van Gogh was able to use one of these as his studio. He stayed in Saint Paul de Mausole until his departure fifty three weeks later. His period of intense creative activity there changed the course of western art, and produced an astonishing output of 150 paintings and 100 drawings. Among them are many of his best know works including Starry Night and Cornfield and Cypress Trees. Two months after leaving Saint Remy Van Gogh shot himself in the chest, and died aged 37.


Van Gogh’s precarious mental state caused his extraordinary outburst of creativity in Provence, but the hospital of Saint Paul de Mausole was the catalyst. During his confinement this remarkable institution encouraged his painting and gave him the facilities and space to work, and most importantly allowed him to paint in the local countryside accompanied by an attendant. The far sighted Doctor Peyron was practicing an early form of art therapy, and Saint Paul de Mausole continues as a working psychiatric hospital today. It now cares for more than 100 patients and offers them workshops in art therapy, music and painting among architecture and landscape of staggering beauty.


We visited Saint Paul de Mausole in September 2006 when the photographs in this article were taken. The hospital is located in the monastery of Saint Paul which dates from the 10th century, and the beautiful buildings with their Romanesque cloister and church , which ares seen above, were taken over by the Fransciscans in the 17th century who started to use them as an insane asylum. Following the Revolution the monks were expelled, but the institution continued to work with psychiatric patients through to the present day, the only interruptions being World War 1 when prisoners from Alsace Lorraine were interned there, including Nobel Prize winner, organist and Bach scholar Albert Schweitzer, and World War II when it was requisitioned by the German Army.

The buildings were extensively restored in 2002, and are now run by the not-for-profit Association et Centre d'Art Valetudo. The monastery is open to visitors, and a permanent exhibition of paintings by patients is displayed in the cloister and renovated Romanesque staircase. At the top of this stair is a reconstruction of Van Gogh’s room; the view through the barred windows (below) of that so familiar landscape with its olive and cypress trees in intensely moving.


Saint Paul de Mausole is an inspirational establishment that pioneered the treatment of psychiatric illness, and it still continues today the therapies that fanned the flames of Vincent Van Gogh’s creativity. There is no better summary of its work than the manifesto for a painter’s co-operative that Van Gogh set out in a letter to his brother Leo: - “Artists won’t find anything better than living together, giving their paintings to their association, which in return would allow them to live and work. “

Now, for more on therapy and France take An Overgrown Path to Serendipity 2
All photos taken by Pliable in September 2006 and (c) On An Overgrown Path. Any copyrighted material on these pages is included for "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Report broken links, missing images and other errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk