Fishing Boats by Vincent Van Gogh Postcard

Fishing Boats on the beach at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, or Vissersboten bij Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, was painted by the Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) in 1888, after he had made copious sketches in the early morning before the fishing boats set sail. He had rented four rooms in Arles, where, at Van Gogh's invitation, he was joined by Paul Gauguin in October. It is from Arles - "formidably cheerful as Holland is sad" - that he visits the fishing village of Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer. Relations between the two became untenable and in December Van Gogh experienced the psychotic episode during which he threatened the other man with a razor and famously cut off a part of his left ear. Fishing Boats on the beach at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer can be seen at The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.