Arlésiennes (Mistral)

Painted in November 1888 in Arles when Gauguin was living with Van Gogh at the Yellow House, this image of Arlésiennes women in a park is a fascinating companion piece to Van Gogh's own versions of the same subject. The two artists were actively competing and collaborating, and Gauguin's approach — more simplified, more decorative — stands in instructive contrast to Van Gogh's more emotionally charged treatment. Painted on jute, the work is now at the Art Institute of Chicago, which also holds several other major works from the brief Yellow House period.

The figures are rendered with Gauguin's characteristic Synthetist economy — outlined forms, flat colour areas, no cast shadows. The jute support creates an unusually rough ground. The overall colour scheme is cooler and more restrained than Van Gogh's Arles palette, reflecting Gauguin's more intellectually controlled approach to colour as symbolic rather than purely expressive.