The Yellow House (The street), 1888
Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890)
Pencil, reed pen and pen in brown ink, opaque and transparent watercolour, on laid paper, 25.7 x 32 cm
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
(Vincent van Gogh Stichting)
F 1413

In May 1888 Van Gogh rented four rooms in a house on Place Lamartine in Arles. His home can be identified from the green shutters, behind which lay his bedroom. The house had to refurbished and furnished before Van Gogh could eventually move in, in September 1888. Until this time the artist used the premises as a studio. Shortly after he had taken up residence, Van Gogh recorded the building and its immediate surroundings in his famous painting The Yellow House, which he himself entitled SÀLa rue?, or SÀThe street?. He produced this watercolour drawing soon after completing the canvas.