Boulevard de Clichy - by Vincent van Gogh

Van Gogh and his brother Theo first lived in a small apartment in Rue Laval, not far from Boulevard de Clichy, which appears in this painting. This was a time of relative peace for the troubled artist, whose life was beset wit increasingly viiolent bouts of angst. Shortly after his arrival in Paris he is thought to have studied with the artist Felix Cormon, where he would have come into contact with Louis Anquetin, John Russell, and the young Emile bernard. Van Gogh would become friends with Russell and Bernard, whom he corresponded with regularly. He also met a number of his contemporaries, including Paul Gauguin, Camille Pissarro and Edgar Degas through his brother Theo's connections

Though Van Gogh retained and developed his particularly unique expression, this work show the influence of the impressionist paintings that he had suddenly become aware of, and expecially the work of Claude Monet, Pissarro whom he admired.