French Artist Communities: Van Gogh & Gauguin

Sat 24 Jan 2026, 11am–12pm
With Juliet Heslewood, author and art historian

This event takes place in-person at the Museum, and online via Zoom.

The third in a series of four talks examining four communities of French artists: The Barbizon school, the Painters of Pont Aven. Van Gogh and Gauguin in Arles, and The Fauves – the ‘Wild Beasts’ of the Mediterranean.

While living in Provence, Van Gogh heard news of Gauguin’s experience of Brittany. He looked forward to creating a similar kind of colony, a ‘studio of the south’ and his letters reveal these hopes and the names of those artists in Paris he felt sure would join him in Arles.

His brother Theo, detecting some urgency in his plan, encouraged Gauguin to join Van Gogh. The two artists lived together for only a few months – often setting off to paint the same views of the town and its surroundings, as well as neighbours.

Their output reveals more of their dissimilarities than any constructive collaboration. The talk will include much quotation from both men’s letters.

There are four talks in this series: French Artist Communities.
Each talk needs to be booked separately:

Talk 1 – The Barbizon School – Sat 15 Nov 2025
Talk 2 – The Pont Aven Painters – Sat 13 Dec 2025
Talk 3 – Van Gogh & Gauguin – Sat 24 Jan 2026
Talk 4 – The Fauves – Sat 21 Feb 2026

The series is part of our Connect & Collaborate season of events.

Tickets are £8 each. Booking is essential