Bedroom in Arles

Like Cézanne, Van Gogh infused 19th-century art with explosive intensity.

He painted more than 2,000 paintings over his lifetime, worth millions today, but died penniless and depressed at 37 years old.

Van Gogh's early paintings, in his native Netherlands, are surprisingly dark.

However, after moving to Paris, he discovered the works of Cézanne, Seurat, Gauguin, and other post-Impressionists - a world of bold and wild colors, emancipated from reality.

Having trouble adjusting to Paris, he then moved to Arles, in the south of France, where he began one of the most prolific periods in his career.

He painted unique, delirious landscapes in aggressive yellows and ultramarines - most of which are immediately recognisable as "Van Goghs" today.

While in Arles, he rented 4 rooms in a small yellow house - the bedroom of which is represented here.

He had also developed an intense friendship with fellow artist Gauguin, whom he convinced to come stay with him in Arles in 1888.

The door on the left of the painting leads into the room where Gauguin stayed while living with Van Gogh.

However their relationship was extremely toxic, culminating with Van Gogh slicing off his own ear during an argument and being admitted into two mental institutions, one in which he shot himself a year later.

Fun fact : while hospitalised, Van Gogh painted a portrait of one of his doctors, Dr Rey, and gifted it to him.

However Dr Rey didn't appreciate the painting - using it as a fence and eventually giving it away... - but it's worth $50 million today!