This weeks painting of the week is: Spectators in the Arena at Arles.
The Olympics in Beijing took off with a grand opening this week. The Greek invented the Olympic games in the ancient times, but the first modern Olympics were held in 1896, 6 years after Vincent van Gogh died.
So, unfortunately Vincent could never experience the Olympic atmosphere. Maybe it would have been a fun event for him to paint: all the athletes and special atmosphere..
Painting during a sports event
Vincent did paint during a sportive event though, he once made a painting during a bullfight at the Arena in Arles. Bullfights were organised there on a regular base. At the end of the 19th century bullfighting was a more common sport than it is nowadays. Vincent seemed to use this opportunity to capture all the spectators together on his canvas. In this painting Van Gogh succeeded in capturing the busy atmosphere.
Funny fact is that Vincent painted this in a year with some Chinese lucky numbers: 1888, just like the magical Olympic date: 08-08-2008.
Click here to take a closer look at the painting.
