Vincent Van Gogh: The Yellow House (1888)

This remarkable painting is of the house in Arles where Vincent lived during his most revolutionary and prolific period from 1888 until his demise. He rented the right half as we see it in the painting, with the distinctive green shutters. 

Here we have a cheering autobiographical work, the house seems to glow with its own light against the deep blue of the sky, and careful observation reveals both blues and oranges in the roofing tiles, giving the vibrancy and optimistic atmosphere. Reading the picture from left to right we see a tree that stands in the corner of the local public park, then the pink canopy of the café where Vincent would usually eat his meals, when he could afford to. To the right we find a typical small café terrace on the side of the road that Vincent often passed when walking to visit his friend, Joseph Roulin, a postman that Vincent produced several paintings of, easily recognisable by his very fine beard. The railway bridge is seen as representing both the wider world and the future.