View to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer

Van Gogh's views of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer from his June 1888 excursion to the Mediterranean coast are among the most expansive landscapes of his Arles period. After a lifetime in the flat Netherlands and the relatively cramped streets of Antwerp, The Hague, and Paris, the Mediterranean coast opened a new spatial experience: the village visible from the sea, the rooftops and church tower rising from the flat landscape of the Camargue. He produced both paintings and drawings during the week-long trip, capturing the quality of the light over the salt marshes from multiple vantage points.

A wide, low composition with the village spread horizontally across the middle distance. The sky occupies more than half the picture, rendered in fluid strokes of cerulean and ultramarine. The flat foreground — sand or scrub — is built in short, warm strokes of ochre and green, contrasting with the luminous sky.