Coal Barges

Van Gogh came to Arles in the spring of 1888 chasing the strong southern sun, and much of what he painted there blazes with it. This is a quieter, working corner of the same town. In early August he wrote to his brother Theo about a very big boat loaded with coal, moored on the Rhône by the quay, and the sight stayed with him. He worked it up afterward in his studio, from memory, in quick and certain strokes. The barges sit dark and low in the water, small figures haul the coal up the bank, and the whole scene is caught under the flush of a sinking sun.