Two days ago, we visited the beautiful little town of Arles. As many of you probably know, Vincent van Gogh was spending 2 years of his life in Arles. With this post, i would like to introduce Arles from Van Goghs perspective:
他的心就像石头一样坚强
哪怕破碎了那也是，那也是石头
他的爱就像花儿一样善良
就算天黑了那也是，那也是花儿
太阳在那阿尔的天空燃烧得太快
送行的人还没有到来
大风把那苦涩的汗水吹遍了田野
只有天真的孩子快乐地唱着
伏热 伏热 伏热 伏热
—— 野孩子乐队《伏热》
「我真希望所有人都能像我一样，来一趟南部」—— Vincent Van Gogh
「I wish everyone could come to the south, just like me. 」 ——Vincent Van Gogh
My impression of Arles all from Vincent's story;
He was tired of the city life of Paris and constantly meeting other artists. He thought his painting was the ONLY painting, they are the gift for our beautiful world. He said to his Brother, "I am a peasant painter, and I want to go back to my field. I am looking for a sun that is hot enough to burn everything of mine, except the desire of drawing."
Therefore he left his brother, who was always supporting him, left his best friend— Gauguin, and he went to Arles.
阿尔勒这个普罗旺斯的小城于我的所有印象全然于文森特·梵高，他彼时厌倦了巴黎的城市生活，疲于艺术家的聚会，他认为他的画是唯一的画，是献给世界之美的礼物。他对他的弟弟提奥说，“我是一个农民画家，我要回到我的田野里去。我要寻找一个太阳，它热得把我体内的一切，除画画之外的欲望，统统烧光。”他除了有对于绘画单纯的渴望之外一无所求。
他下定决定离开他拐杖一样存在的弟弟，他同样潦倒的艺术家朋友们，疲倦不堪的逃离巴黎，来到普罗旺斯，来到阿尔勒。
在给弟弟的信里面，他说：“这里的乡村对我而言，如同画里的日本一样美丽，空气清新，色彩明快，流水把陆地分割成一块块宝石绿或蓝色的色块。泛白的橘红色夕阳，让土地看起来像蓝色的，太阳是无与伦比的金色。我打算留在这里欣赏这寻常夏日的壮丽景色。我想，到夏天时，色彩会更有活力吧。”
During the two years in Arles, Van gogh's passion for colour was erupted. The incomparable golden sun, the bright city color; it all made him fanatical. He spent his days wandering under the sun of Arles and he painted the beauty of the nature with his simple eyes like a child. But at that time, the people of Arles saw him as a madman, and even the children laughed at him, "the madman with the red hair."
在阿尔勒的两年里，梵高内心对于色彩的狂热被激发。他整日游荡于阿尔勒的烈阳下，他用生命用孩子一样单纯的眼睛去描绘去赞叹自然之美。但彼时阿尔的居民把他当成疯子，连孩子都嘲笑他，“红头发的伏热。”
如今没有哪个画家会像他一样，在田野里专注的坐上一整天，任凭太阳的炙烤和西北风的鞭打，就为了画劳作中的农民。
In Van Gogh's meticulous observation, the life of sunflowers are different, as if every one of them has its own sorrows.
在梵高细致入微的观察下，向日葵的生命形态各异，好像每一朵都有心事。
星空下的咖啡馆，明黄色的房子在湛蓝的夜空下好像有了生命力一样。在当时欧洲文艺复兴以来，欧洲绘画中是不用黄色的，但梵高的画就是唯一的，他的画是被阳光燃烧了的，是最饱满闪亮的晃动人双眼的黄。
A prostitute once joked with Vicent that if you didn't have the money give to me, cut off an ear and give it to me.
On December, 23th, 1888, he did that, he cut his half ear and gave it to the prostitute, after he stayed in this hospital for treatment.
阿尔的一个妓女曾和开玩笑梵高说，如果你没有钱来找我了，就割下一只耳朵给我。在与高更决裂后陷入癫狂的梵高割掉半个耳朵送给了这个妓女，之后他来到这个医院治疗。
The stars in the sky are like a spiral, they are burning, the starry sky is flowing, hung over the mountains and villages, cypress like a flame standing alone, the whole picture is erupting.
夜空中星星像旋涡一样在颤动的燃烧着，星空是流动的，笼罩着群山和村庄，柏树像想上串升的火焰一样孤独地矗立，整幅画有种喷发的生命力。
梵高在给弟弟提奥的信里写到：“今天早晨日出之前，我从窗口眺望远方的乡村，除了晨星什么也看不到，而晨星看起来是那么大而明亮。”
如梵高所希翼的，即使他死后这些画依旧是活生生的。
Starry, starry night.
Paint your palette blue and grey,
Look out on a summer's day,
With eyes that know the darkness in my soul.
Shadows on the hills,
Sketch the trees and the daffodils,
Catch the breeze and the winter chills,
In colors on the snowy linen land.Now I understand what you tried to say to me
how you suffered for your sanity
how you tried to set them free.
They would not listen
they did not know how
perhaps they'll listen now.
——— Don McLean
more picures made from us and about our trip to Arles soon to come