Frank Gehry, Van Gogh, & Constantine in Arles
It’s true: Frank Gehry’s style is unique.
Even to the untrained eye, it can be easy to spot a creation by the Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry that is dotted around the world, notably in Bilbao, Spain. His use of sweeping curves, unusual lines and bold materials have attracted visitors, and mixed reviews, for years.
Prague’s Dancing House, Seattle’s MoPOP , & the Bilbao Guggenheim Museum are only a few of the architectural wonders that stand out in Gehry’s portfolio.
In 2010, during a special event at the 12th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice, Gehry revealed plans for a new project for the Luma Arles complex in Arles, France. The exhibition featured numerous models and variations on the twisting tower of aluminum tiles that would come to grace the arts center established by Swiss art collector Maja Hoffmann.
“I love working. I love working things out. I love the client interaction – I think it’s a 50-50 game. I love that we do what we do – and bring it in under budget, which no one believes, but it’s true.”
frank Gehry 2018
Meant to mimic the rocky formations found near Arles, the shiny aluminum surface literally reflects its surroundings.
Adorned with glass boxes, aluminum panels, and a circular glass atrium, it consists of a concrete core framed in steel. Gehry’s newest building rises 56 meters above the ground and will offer space for a variety of disciplines, from research facilities to artists’ studios, workshops to seminar rooms. It was set to open in late 2018 but the grand opening has been pushed forward to the spring of 2021.
The building, located in an abandoned rail yard, has already been likened to a crushed soda can by its French neighbors, while American architecture critic Frank Miller described it as a “stainless-steel tornado.” Harsh.
This seems a bit extreme once the building is viewed in context with the rest of the campus. Dramatic, sure, but it also stands as a sentinel for the new century’s Arles art community which was surrounded by the city’s ancient history.
Joining Gehry’s building on the site are a number of industrial buildings that have been revitalized: one as a gallery space, another, the Parc des Ateliers as a public garden.
Ironic, since one of Van Gogh’s best known paintings was of another public garden across town . . .
As is Vincent Van Gogh’s
In 1888-89, while sharing a little yellow house in Arles with Paul Gaugin towards the end of his brief life, he created many of his best pieces.
His famous paintings of the Yellow House, Courtyard at the hospital at Arles, Starry Night, and The Sunflowers were all painted in Arles.
Here is the famous Portrait of Vincent Painting sunflowers by Gaugin those sunflowers by his roommate Paul Gaugin in Arles.
The Place du Forum is definitely worth a visit in Arles. It’s a small tree-lined square in the old town filled with open-air restaurants.
The busy square inspired Van Gogh’s painting called Café Terrace at Night in 1888. We sat at the cafe across the street & gawked at the star-struck tourists who flocked there – just for the photo-op.
It’s a stupidly overpriced cafe trading on the name, plus it’s a replica of the original cafe. Sorry.
Just enjoy the elaborate brush-strokes in the painting when you get to Amsterdam. During the Covid scare, it was completely shut down.
And yet, Arles is a Roman design
The largest of the Roman designs, this amphitheater, was built by Caesar’s adoptive son and successor Augustus, and had a capacity of 10,000 people. It is 102 meters wide, and is still in use today as a concert and bullfighting venue.
It was built in the last quarter of the first century and is, therefore, slightly younger than the enormous Colosseum in Rome which seated up to 20,000 people for the infamous gladiator competitions.
The building measures 136 m (446 ft) in length and 109 m (358 ft) wide, and features 120 arches. It has an oval arena surrounded by terraces, arcades on two levels (60 in all), bleachers, a system of galleries, drainage system in many corridors of access and staircases for a quick exit from the crowd. This “temple” of games housed gladiators and hunting scenes for more than four centuries.
Many of the smaller Roman relics that have been discovered in Arles are now displayed in the Musee Departemental Arles Antique, which is located to the south of the old walled town.
It’s an easy and scenic walk down the river & the payoff is the boat in the center of the 1st floor.
Here’s a YouTube Video about that restoration.
Also south of the main town, a circus (hippodrome) has been found just west of the city, also not far from the pathway near the river.
Nearby, in the town of Fontvieille, a few miles from Arles, there is the Barbegal aqueduct and mill. It is a Roman watermill complex that has sometimes been referred to as “the greatest known concentration of mechanical power in the ancient world”.
The remains of the mill streams and buildings which housed the overshot water wheels are still visible at the site, and it is by far the best-preserved of the ancient Roman mills.
There are two aqueducts which join just north of the mill complex, a sluice that enabled the operators to control the water supply into the complex. The mechanism was designed around 16 waterwheels in two separate rows built into a steep hillside.
There are still large stone remains of the water channels and foundations of each mill, together with a staircase leading up to the mills.
The mills apparently operated for about 200 years and had a capacity estimated by archaeologists at an amazing 4.5 tons of flour per day.
If you’re still energetic, there’s a wall with a fortified city gate guarding the north road coming into town from the train station.
Perfect for that last photo-op before the train.
Finally, the Baths of Constantine which faces the river also deserve to be visited. Under the emperor Constantine the Great (306-337), Arles was briefly an imperial residence, from 308 until Constantine captured Rome in 312. His royal builders built the bathhouse in 310, but he quickly moved back to Rome, and his administration officers enjoyed the new construction. The site is nothing fancy in its current state, but is directly related to the Emperor – so why not?
After the collapse of the Rhine frontier to the east in the first decade of the fifth century, Arles became the seat of the government for the Prefecture of Gaul (France.) During that era, there was a bustling merchant town that received goods from all over the Mediterranean – hence all the artifacts specific to the roman Empire.
There was so much for us to see in so many directions that we stayed here for about 4 days, walking north & south. Of course we spent lots of time recovering in the cafes just people watching, too. Even in the Fall, there were hordes of Japanese tourists in groups with their obligatory cameras.
We kept our distance, and focused on the wild mix of historical eras that we could touch and feel. And it was only our first stop along the Mediterranean coast.
ART-critique Magazine, Wikipedia, and Musee Departemental Arles Antique.
