The record dates Spectators in the Arena at Arles to 1888 and measures it at 73 by 92 centimetres. That is the single most frequent dimension in this catalogue: seventeen works are recorded at exactly 73 by 92, and nine more at 92 by 73, the same stretcher stood upright. Twenty-six entries out of the 333 with a recorded size share one format, which is the plainest indication the record gives that the painter was buying standard canvas rather than choosing a shape picture by picture.
The work is held by the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, one of eight entries here in that collection, dated 1888, 1889 and 1890. The measured palette reads as green and yellow.
This is the only title in the catalogue that names an arena, and one of twenty-five dated 1888 that name Arles or an Arles subject. The year holds 135 works, more than any other in the decade, and it is one of three years this site assigns whole to a single town, with 1889 and 1890. Beyond the date, the size, the collection and the measured palette, nothing about the occasion of this picture is recorded, and nothing is supplied.
Vincent Willem van Gogh (Dutch: [หvษชnsษnt หสษชlษษฑ vษล หษฃษx] ; 30 March 1853 โ 29 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade he c
Dutch art dealer, 1866-1911
Louie Drehmer, Curator, Vincent van Gogh Paintings
Louie curates Vincent van Gogh Paintings, cross-referencing every entry against museum records, Wikidata, the Getty Union List of Artist Names, and Wikipedia.
Spectators in the Arena at Arles is an oil painting by Vincent van Gogh, 1888, held at Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia.
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