MENTAL ASYLUMS are not often found on tourist itineraries, but an exception should be made for Saint Paul de Mausole in St-Rémy, Provence. This ancient priory is the asylum Vincent Van Gogh confined himself to after cutting off his ear. It is set in countryside made famous by the painter, and, as we approached on a hot day in July, the olive trees, wheat fields, cypresses and sunflowers seemed strangely familiar. Van Gogh painted 150 oils during his confinement here.
On entering the grounds we were greeted by a statue of the painter looking gaunt and haunted, paintbrushes in one hand, sunflowers in the other. A discreet sign directed our gaze to a bed of irises. It was here he painted his famous flowers. There is an eerie feeling about the place, as if the man himself lingers just out of sight.
The cloister, with its manicured garden, feels more monastic than medicinal and is as serene and tranquil a place as one could find.
From the cloister a winding staircase leads to the painter’s bedroom. It is bright and airy and is laid out as it was during his year here. There is an iron bed, a small table, a chair, an easel and a few of his prints on the whitewashed walls. It is as if he has just popped out for a stroll. I am drawn to the barred window and to the wheat field beyond. I cannot but imagine him, early in the morning or late at night when he couldn’t sleep, standing there, despairing. The poignancy is heightened by the psychiatry notes in the adjoining room that explain his illness: hallucinations, nightmares, seizures, depression, insomnia. “One feels as if one were lying bound hand and foot at the bottom of a deep, dark well, utterly helpless,” he wrote to his brother, Theo.
There is a sense of sadness here, but also a sense of wonder that such brilliant art could spring from so tormented a soul.
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