Little Arlesienne, The

An Arlesienne simply means a woman from Arles, and Van Gogh had already painted his well-known portrait of an older cafe owner under that title. This is a different sitter, a young girl, which is why the picture is usually called the Little Arlesienne. He made it in 1890, the last year of his life, still drawn to the ordinary people of Provence. The girl sits in a bright dress with no props and no setting around her, and the background is built from short flecks of green and yellow in the restless, dotted touch he favoured at the very end. The orange of her clothing and the green behind her are opposite colours on the wheel, set against each other on purpose, a contrast he returned to again and again.