Fishing Boats on the Beach at Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer

In early June 1888 Van Gogh took a few days away from Arles and travelled down to the fishing village of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, seeing the Mediterranean for the first time. He was struck by how the colour of the sea kept changing, and by the small boats the fishermen hauled up onto the sand each morning. He made a quick drawing of these ones at first light, before they put out, then carried it back and worked the painting up indoors. The boats are outlined firmly and filled with flat, bright colour, almost like toys, while the sea and sky behind them stay loose and shifting. He painted the whole trip in about a week.