What also makes Auberge Raboux truly unique is that was home to a famous painter for 10 weeks during the Spring and Summer of 1890. Vincent van Gogh arrived in Auvers-sur-Oise in May following a long stay in an asylum. He rented a small attic room at Auberge Raboux and enjoyed meals in the same dining room where we ate.
Van Gogh chose Auvers-sur-Oise for its rural charm and also to be near the well-known physician and arts patron Dr. Gachet. In the short time Van Gogh lived in Auvers, he finished more than 80 paintings, more than one per day. Those paintings amounted to more than 1/10 of his life's work.
We visited the room in Auberge Raboux where Van Gogh lived. It is small and empty, except for a lone chair.
You can read about Van Gogh's life below.
The fine folks in Auvers-sur-Oise have created a walking trail to visit places in and around Auvers where Van Gogh painted. Since we are Van Gogh fans, we followed his footsteps. Here are some photos taken during our walk, together with photos of Van Gogh's finished painting.
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| La Maison du Pere Pilon |
Below are two more paintings from Van Gogh's time in Auvers. (The paintings are n the Musée d'Orsay.)
The walking trail passes by a modern sculpture of Van Gogh.
The trail also passes by where Van Gogh was buried following his death. His devoted brother Theo died 6 months later and was eventually buried next to Vincent.
Van Gogh's death is tragic. He might have been bi-polar, suffering from periods of mania and depression. He died from a gunshot wound. He likely shot himself, although some would to like to believe he was shot accidentally by someone else. Either way, he died young, age 37. Fortunately, he left behind plenty of masterpieces and influenced generations of artists.
Before he died, he had never had an exhibition of his paintings. Upon his death, his casket was set on the billiard table in the dining room at Auberge Raboux (the priest refused a church service) and his paintings were displayed around the room. He finally got his first exhibition, the first of many to come.
We enjoyed our visit to Auvers-sur-Oise. If you are a fan of fine food and fine art, we recommend visiting.
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| Marie-Chantal and Jean-Claude at Auberge Raboux |
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