Park on Place Lamartine - by Vincent van Gogh

Up until July 1888, whenever he was working out of doors, Van Gogh had chosen mainly to depict the landscape around Arles, inspired by his yearning for the unspoiled countryside he had missed so much in Paris. He cherished strongly poetic feelings towards these places and introduced loving couples into many of the scenes, as he had done in a large painting made a few years earlier in Paris.

The small areas of planned nature to be found in villages and towns greatly attracted Van Gogh. Wherever he worked, he made pictures of gardens and parks, and in Arles they were one of his favorite subjects.