The Brothel, 1888 Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890)

We create our paintings with museum quality and covering the highest academic standards. Once we get your order, it will be entirely hand-painted with oil on canvas. All the materials we use are the highest level, being totally artist graded painting materials and linen canvas.

We will add 1.6" (4 cm) additional blank canvas all over the painting for stretching.

High quality and detailing in every inch are time consuming. The reproduction of Vincent van Gogh also needs time to dry in order to be completely ready for shipping, as this is crucial to not be damaged during transportation.
Based on the size, level of detail and complexity we need 8-9 weeks to complete the process.

In case the delivery date needs to be extended in time, or we are overloaded with requests, there will be an email sent to you sharing the new timelines of production and delivery.

TOPofART wants to remind you to keep patient, in order to get you the highest quality, being our mission to fulfill your expectations.

We not stretch and frame our oil paintings due to several reasons:
Painting reproduction is a high quality expensive product, which we cannot risk to damage by sending it being stretched.
Also, there are postal restrictions, regarding the size of the shipment.
Additionally, due to the dimensions of the stretched canvas, the shipment price may exceed the price of the product itself.

You can stretch and frame your painting in your local frame-shop.

Once the painting The Brothel is ready and dry, it will be shipped to your delivery address. The canvas will be rolled-up in a secure postal tube.

We offer free shipping as well as paid express transportation services.

After adding your artwork to the shopping cart, you will be able to check the delivery price using the Estimate Shipping and Tax tool.

The paintings we create are only of museum quality. Our academy graduated artists will never allow a compromise in the quality and detail of the ordered painting. TOPofART do not work, and will never allow ourselves to work with low quality studios from the Far East. We are based in Europe, and quality is our highest priority.

In "The Brothel" (1888), Vincent van Gogh creates an evocative snapshot of a late-night brothel scene. Painted during his stay in Arles, this piece was a product of his collaboration with fellow artist Paul Gauguin. The setting is hazy yet intimate, capturing the seedy vibrancy of the establishment's patrons - women in flowing, colorful dresses seated with men, likely customers, their faces drained of vitality and lost in shadow. Van Gogh’s use of deep, dull tones contrasts with the bright, saturated garments of the women, which feel almost artificial against the muted backdrop.

The brushwork is rapid and unpolished, in line with Van Gogh's intense emotionality and Gauguin's influence, encouraging Van Gogh to paint from memory rather than life. This gives the scene a dream-like, perhaps even distorted, quality. The figures almost blur into each other, as if dissolving under the harsh lamp hanging above them. On the right, two figures embrace awkwardly, their form merging into a swirl of color, suggesting the ambiguity of emotion and connection in this space.

The choice of color here is deliberate and unsettling. The background, painted with a blue wash, adds a claustrophobic atmosphere, amplifying the luridness of the space. The soldiers, distinguished by their iconic red hats, subtly signal the harsh realities outside the brothel - the violence and authority that lurks even in this world of supposed pleasure and escape.

In this painting, Van Gogh offers more than a simple depiction of a brothel. He captures the human spirit in limbo - suspended between lust, loneliness, and something faintly resembling joy, all beneath a veneer of shadow and color.