
444: Celestial Means of Locomotion
- Publisher
- Départ Pour l'Image
- Year
- 2019
- ISBN
- 978-88-944622-7-2
- Specifications
- 210 x 280 mm
40 pages
Paper: Fedrigoni Milk, Woodstock Cipria and Favini Salmone
Text by Luca Reffo
English
Edition of 100 numbered copies
Shortlisted for the Arles Books Award 2019
444 are the days Vincent Van Gogh spent in Arles, from February 1888 to May 1889, before moving to Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. 444 is the name of an ongoing project, a selection of works including paintings, photographs and drawings. The project is a reflection on the exceptional nature of 444 days, an interval of time in which Van Gogh transformed Arles and all of its surrounding territory, from Montmajour to Sainte-Marie-de-la-Mer, from Fontvieille to the countryside of Provence, into an open-air study. His research, driven by the desire for brighter colours and the dream of Japan and new business opportunities, led him to a revolutionary vision of painting, in particular landscapes that can be perceived as a measure of feeling and a mirror of the soul of the world. 444, through the rereading of the real and symbolic elements of the territory, brings together the evocative dimension of the image with the introspective and visionary nature of Van Gogh's letters. It expresses, from a different point of view, his extremely devoted research aimed at conceiving beauty as a synthesis of the spirit.