Garden of a bath-house, 1888
Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890)
Reed pen in brown ink, pencil on wove paper, 61 x 49 cm
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
(Vincent van Gogh Stichting)
F 1457

From August to October 1888 Van Gogh worked on a series of drawings of parks and gardens in the town of Arles. The series begins with three imposing drawings of summer gardens, which include this highly successful work. Van Gogh has drawn a number of sunflowers amongst the luxuriant growth of the flowerbed. The artist became so inspired by this bloom that he produced seven paintings of the subject. He painted four of these works in August 1888, the month in which he also drew this scene.