May 17, 1890, hello Doctor Gachet!

This article is taken from: Figaro Special Edition Van Gogh, Farewell SymphonyA special issue published on the occasion of the exhibition at the Musée d’Orsay Van Gogh, The Last DaysTracing the artist’s life and work from his Dutch youth to his tragic end in Auvers sur Oise.

On a green wooden bench, amidst the heavy sighs of steam locomotives, Theo Van Gogh smiles. He’s happy. In a few minutes Vincent will get off the train to Arles. He left the South completely. Theo waits for Vincent on a platform at the Gare de Lyon in Paris.
Theo is happy because he came up with the idea of ​​going to see this pillar of the avant-garde, the humble impressionist Camille Pissarro. Always loyal to his friends, always open to young artists. Cézanne, eight years younger, said of him: like good god », friendly, attentive to others. Impressionist painter Mary Cassatt claimed to be such a good teacher that she could learn to paint with stones.
Pissarro tells Theo that Vincent needs to see a doctor due to his health condition and that the ideal person is Dr. Gachet said he would. Northern Railway Company doctor, medical inspector of schools in the City of Paris, lives in the capital, Rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis. But he has a country house in Auvers-sur-Oise, about thirty kilometers from Paris, which he goes to three days a week.

Also readFigaro Special Edition editorial: “Farewell Symphony”

Gachet is an unconventional doctor. He is a free-thinking person who does not follow the rules. He met Proudhon and Courbet. He treated Daumier and Manet. He even paints and engraves.
Sitting on a green wooden bench, Theo smiles. He’s happy. On May 17, 1890, Vincent stood in front of him. Just came. He has only seventy-four days left to live. He doesn’t know this. Nor his brother. Theo stood up. Two men hug each other. They gently touch each other’s shoulders. A chill passes. They very quickly leave the city of Pigalle, where Theo settled with his wife Johanna and their son Vincent.

Johanna only knows her brother-in-law from his self-portraits. She is surprised when he opens the apartment door and lets two men in. Surprise. finds Vincent” stronger than Theo “. He is not at fault. Theo is skinny. He has a cough. He is tired. He has no appetite. Suffering from chronic uremigenic nephritis, Theo has everything to fear about the future. Death is within him.
Theo and Johanna drag Vincent to their child’s room, who is now three and a half months old. Baby is sleeping. All three are looking at him. Affected. Suddenly Vincent turns to Johanna and says, laughing: “ Little sister, you shouldn’t wear it lacy like that. »

Vincent enjoys these sweet moments. This calmness real life » will never be his. His life ! A life like a storm, an incompatible image, a work in the abyss. If Vincent only talks about himself, it is to criticize himself better, to reveal himself. However, he remains silent about his stay in Saint-Rémy. Theo and Johanna too. Insanity is not a topic to talk about at a family luncheon.
Three days after his arrival in Paris, Vincent went to Auvers-sur-Oise. The train journey seemed quick to him.

Auvers sur Oise! A village nestled among flowering orchards and singing blackbirds. And the Oise slipping through the quaking poplars. This is what it’s like to be distracted by the wind. It tells its story across landscape, grove, wasteland, forest, meadow, pond and waterway. Just as the desert gives flavor to water, flowers give fragrance to the garden. The light May wind leaves its signature on the village. And suddenly Dr. Gachet’s villa.
The red-haired doctor is friendly. Vincent enters the house. Antique shop! Antique black furniture smelling like tiles, figurines, Delft vases, Italian lands and, most importantly, paintings on all the walls: Cézanne, Guillaumin, Pissarro, Monet, Renoir, Sisley…
“ Welcome, Vincent! »

“Van Gogh, Farewell Symphony” 164 pages, €13.90, available on newsstands and websites Figaro Store .