Women of Arles (Mistral)
1888
Gauguin captured the fierce Mistral wind of southern France not by showing blowing leaves, but through the heavy, dark cloaks of these Arles women huddled against the elements. Painted during his turbulent 1888 stay with Van Gogh, the scene contrasts the somber figures with a jarringly bright red picket fence and golden haystacks. The flattened perspective and bold colors mark a clear break from realism, pushing toward Symbolism where emotion and memory outweighed strict observation.
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