Vincent has lived in Paris during different periods in his live. The first time he went to Paris, was in 1874, when he was transferred to Goupil's Paris branch, where he remained for three months before returning to the London office.

In May 1875 Van Gogh was sent to the Goupil Paris office again. He attended art exhibitions at the Salon and the Louvre. In late March 1876 he was dismissed from Goupil's and he decided to move to England to become a clergyman.

Vincent arrived in Paris in March 1886 to live with his brother Theo in Montmartre, the artists' neighbourhood. At first they lived on Rue de Lavel and after a couple of months the moved to a larger apartment on the Rue Lepic.

During this year, several important exhibitions made Van Gogh get acquainted with the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists. Compared to their work, his paintings were dark and old-fashioned. He started to paint flowers to train himself in using clear colors and he copied Japanese prints to work on his compositions.

In Paris he met several Impressionists who influenced his work and point of view as an artist. In 1887 Van Gogh organized an exposition with work of avant-garde artists like Signac, Gauguin, Bernard and himself.

Like the Impressionists, Van Gogh now takes his subjects from the city's cafés and boulevards, and the open countryside along the Seine River. Vincent paints city views in the neighbourhood, for example the Boulevard de Clichy and the Moulin de la Galette.

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