Gauguin and a Brothel in Arles: Gauguin's Stay in Arles with van Gogh in 1888 had a Transforming Impact on His Art Parry Because It was Also a Time of Sexual Awakening, Argues Martin Gayford, Using Newly Discovered Evidence (Paul Gauguin‪)‬

Gauguin and Van Gogh are the odd couple of art. For nine weeks, from 23 October to 23 December 1888, they lived together in 2 Place Lamartine, or the Yellow House, in Aries. This episode has been treated in children's books and a Hollywood movie--with Kirk Douglas as Vincent and Anthony Quinn as Gaugum. Everybody knows how they quarrelled, and Van Gogh spiralled down into madness. However, in the course of research for a book on the subject, I have been struck by how much remains to be discovered, especially from Gauguin's point of view. Discussion has always concentrated on the tense relationship between the two painters. But what did Gauguin get out of staying in Arles? His period in the Provencal town was brief but evidently left a strong impression. He described the events in Aries at length in Avant et Apres--the series of autobiographic vignettes and fragments that he wrote towards the end of his life--and not only in the famous passage describing his life with Van Gogh. (1) Gauguin, just turned 40, was at a transitional point. The month before he arrived in Aries, while at Pont-Aven in Brittany, he had painted the Vision of the Sermon--the first painting in which he moved decisively away from natural appearances and depicted the images of the mind. To use a handy, although rather approximate, shorthand, in late 1888 Gauguin was metamorphosing from being a second-generation impressionist into something more like a symbolist. (2) This development continued strongly in the paintings he produced after he had settled in at Aries.