L'Arlesienne: Madame Ginoux by Vincent Van Gogh Poster

L'Arlésienne (Portrait of Madame Ginoux) by Vincent Van Gogh, oil on burlap 1888, also Madame Ginoux with Gloves and Umbrella or The Woman from Arles, is a portrait painting of a seated woman with dark hair, black clothing and white bodice in three quarter view. The subject owned the café in which Van Gogh lodged while working in Arles in the south of France, and in this sitting posed for both Van Gogh and the painter Paul Gauguin. Gauguin completed a charcoal drawing of Ginoux while Vincent produced this finished painting "knocked off in one hour", as he wrote. The pale, lemon yellow background contrasts with the dark notes of hair, features and clothing, painted alla prima in thickly applied, impasto oil paint, captures the warmth and inner character of the sitter. Van Gogh produced other versions of this portrait, including several based on Gauguin’s charcoal drawing. Vincent Van Gogh (1853 - 1890) was a Dutch painter of the Post-Impressionist movement known for bold, expressive drawing, swirling brushstrokes and bold, heightened colours. In early adulthood Van Gogh worked as an art dealer, teacher and pastor before taking up the full time study of drawing and painting in his late twenties. Influenced by Rembrandt, the 19th century Realists and Barbizon school, Van Gogh's early paintings featured studies of workers and peasants in sombre earth tones. Moving to France in 1886, Van Gogh met with the startling innovations of the Impressionist painters and began to apply their approach to colour and subject matter, which continued into the mature style for which the artist is most renowned. Van Gogh produced many hundreds of drawings and paintings including portraits, landscapes, still life and flower paintings, and numerous self-portraits that became a dominating influence on the modern art of the 20th century and made him one of the most popular artists of all time.