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View of Paris from Theo's Apartment in the Rue Lepic (Gezicht op de daken van Parijs) is the name of two paintings by Dutch post-impressionist artist Vincent van Gogh in 1887 while he lived with his brother Theo in Paris.

Context
Van Gogh moved from the Netherlands to Paris in February 1886 to live with his brother, Theo, who was an art dealer. The View of Paris from Vincent’s Room in the Rue Lepic was painted from Vincent and Theo’s fourth-floor apartment located in Montmartre, which gave Vincent a vast view of the Paris skyline. At that time, Montmartre was known as an artist's quarter. During the two years that Van Gogh lived in Paris between 1886 and 1888, he was exposed to a vibrant art scene of young artists experimenting with new styles and his style began to change from his “dark-manner Dutch works.” Living in Paris benefited Van Gogh. In October of 1886, he wrote to his friend, Horace Mann Livens, “Paris is Paris, there is but one Paris and however hard living may be here… the French air clears up the brain and does one good, tremendously good.”  During his time in Paris, Van Gogh painted approximately 230 paintings; He was more prolific there than any other period in his life.

Composition and Analysis
Van Gogh painted the View of Paris from Vincent’s Room in the Rue Lepic, from the perspective of his window in Montmartre looking toward the center of Paris. In the foreground of the View of Paris from Vincent’s Room in the Rue Lepic, we see city blocks and buildings with bright and colorful shuttered windows and an array of packed rooftops which opens to a view of Paris in the distance with the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris in the city’s center and the blue and green sky.

This painting highlights Van Gogh's impressionistic style and reflects his emotions and perspective on urban life in Paris. The View represents a time in Van Gogh’s artistic development where one can see his evolving style. This painting is one of his initial works where he used thick brushwork the bright and contrasting colors of blues and greens and reds and yellows. He also incorporated the Pointillism technique where small dots of color are applied to patterns to form an image.

Soon after moving to his new apartment in Paris, Van Gogh painted the Roofs of Paris in 1886, from the view of his window which faced southeast. The View of Paris from Vincent’s Room in the Rue Lepic is the third painting in a group of three works created by Van Gogh in 1887 from the view from his apartment. The first was a drawing followed by two paintings. While working on his initial drawing, Van Gogh realized that using a horizontal orientation would not achieve the composition he was envisioning. This along with the all too large building on the right, caused him to scrap it and start over, this time with the vertical orientation. He also switched his location to the living room window, allowing the building on the right to have a smaller space on the canvas. The change of room, the vertical orientation and the addition of a girl on the top balcony to add life to the painting, solved his compositional issues and resulted in the second painting, View of Paris from Vincent’s Room in the Rue Lepic. He then painted a third where he shun the size of the building even more. He then painted another study in oils.

Interpretation
Van Gogh’s style and use of color evolved while living in Paris. His work shifted from the dark, somber hues of his earlier realist paintings to more colorful and textured art. As an example, in his earlier work, View From Theo’s Apartment, painted from his apartment in Paris, Van Gogh used a much darker color palette of mostly grays and browns.

When comparing this work to Van Gogh’s later work, View of Paris from Vincent’s Room in the Rue Lepic, we see the transition to the use of more vibrant colors and the pointillist brush technique.

Influences
The View of Paris from Vincent’s Room in the Rue Lepic was influenced by Japanese prints. They were a source of inspiration for Van Gogh. The prints, which he collected and studied, acted as a catalyst for him to look at things in a new way. The Japanese prints were often of distant views with large objects in the foreground. We see this influence in the View of Paris from Vincent’s Room in the Rue Lepic with buildings and rooftops in the foreground and the view of Paris and the sky in the distance.

He was also influenced by the Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist movements. For the use of color he was influenced by Charles Blanc. He was also influenced by other young artists like Camille Pissarro, Paul Gaugin and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec who inspired his use of more color for its luminous and emotional effect.

Painting Location
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, home to a collection of Van Gogh’s paintings, drawings & letters.