Vincent van Gogh | The Laundry Boat on the Seine at Asnières, 1887

The Laundry Boat on the Seine at Asnières exemplifies some of the radical directions emerging from the paintings Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) completed in Paris.

In March 1886, Van Gogh left his native Netherlands to reunite with his brother, Theo, in the French capital.

Soon after, he began meeting with several leading avant-garde artists whose works embodied strong reactions against the Impressionist tendencies that dominated the Parisian art world.

In 1887, Van Gogh took up residence in Asnières, a northwestern suburb of Paris, and his encounters with Signac and Gauguin proved catalytic for the painter's developing practice.

Vincent van Gogh | The Laundry Boat on the Seine at Asnières, 1887 | Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Gauguin shared Van Gogh's enthusiasm for 19th-century Japanese woodblock prints and emulated their large planes of color in his burgeoning Synthetism and Cloisonnism techniques.

The compositional diagonals and strong contours in this painting recall both the distinctive divisions of the picture plane in Japanese landscapes and Gauguin’s simplified adaptation of these features.

The scene's striking chromatic contrasts and thickly layered brushstrokes also point to Van Gogh's interest in the experiments with complementary colors Seurat and Signac were making in these years.

The restaurant and park scenes and the views of the Seine that Van Gogh completed while living in Asnières began to demonstrate the indelible influence of Synthetism, Divisionism, and Pointillism even as a unique Post-Impressionist style was emerging in his paintings. | Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Vincent van Gogh | Self-portrait as a painter, 1887-88

The Laundry Boat on the Seine at Asnières esemplifica alcune delle direzioni radicali emerse dai dipinti completati da Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) a Parigi.

Nel marzo 1886, Van Gogh lasciò la natia Olanda per riunirsi al fratello Theo nella capitale francese.

Poco dopo, iniziò a incontrare diversi importanti artisti d'avanguardia le cui opere incarnavano forti reazioni contro le tendenze impressioniste che dominavano il mondo dell'arte parigino.

Nel 1887, Van Gogh si stabilì ad Asnières, un sobborgo nord-occidentale di Parigi, ed i suoi incontri con Signac e Gauguin si rivelarono catalizzatori per la pratica in via di sviluppo del pittore.

Gauguin condivideva l'entusiasmo di Van Gogh per le stampe xilografiche giapponesi del XIX secolo e ne emulò i grandi piani di colore nelle sue fiorenti tecniche di Sintetismo e Cloisonnisme.

Le diagonali compositive e i forti contorni in questo dipinto richiamano sia le divisioni distintive del piano pittorico nei paesaggi giapponesi sia l'adattamento semplificato di queste caratteristiche da parte di Gauguin.

I contrasti cromatici sorprendenti della scena e le pennellate spesse e stratificate indicano anche l'interesse di Van Gogh per gli esperimenti con colori complementari che Seurat e Signac stavano facendo in quegli anni.

Le scene del ristorante e del parco e le vedute della Senna che Van Gogh completò mentre viveva ad Asnières iniziarono a dimostrare l'influenza indelebile del sintetismo, del divisionismo e del puntinismo, anche se uno stile Post-impressionista unico stava emergendo nei suoi dipinti. | Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

More Asnières paintings by Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh | The restaurant Rispal in Asnières, 1887 | Museo Nelson-Atkins

Vincent van Gogh | Bridges across the Seine at Asnieres, 1887 | Collezione Bührle

Vincent van Gogh | Fishing in spring the Pont de Clichy (Asnieres), 1887 | Art Institute of Chicago

Vincent van Gogh | River Bank in Springtime, 1887 | Dallas Museum of Art

Vincent van Gogh | Restaurant de la Sirène at Asnières, 1887 | Musée d'Orsay

Vincent van Gogh | Fishing in Spring, the Pont de Clichy (Asnières), 1887 | Art Institute of Chicago