In March of 1886, Vincent Van Gogh moved from Antwerp to Paris to live with his brother

Theo in Mom Mart.

He very soon became befriended with some of the other artists living there who would become

very famous within the next decades, like Paul Sinjak, Henri de Toulouse-Lotrec, Emil Berna

and some others.

And he learned a lot from them.

Stefan Kolderhaft, German art expert.

And that led to his willingness to make experiments in becoming an artist.

When he painted in rather dark, brownish, gray tones during his time before in the Netherlands,

he now was willing to try out what to do with color, how to form things with color.

In Van Gogh's effort to master oil painting, he painted still lives.

Mostly flowers.

He couldn't afford models.

In a space of a few years, he produced dozens and dozens of paintings.

The Paris period means that Van Gogh just had decided to become an artist.

He no longer wanted to try other professions like he did before, like being a preacher or

a teacher or helping people.

He now made the decision I want to be a painter and he knew that Paris is the place to be.

My name is Malcolm Gladwell.

You're listening to Revisionist History, my podcast about things overlooked and misunderstood.

This episode is a continuation of my investigation into the hoarding habits of art museums.

It's about one of those dozens of still-lifes Van Gogh painted in his Paris period.

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