Van Gogh in Milan: the Arlesiana opens "The Guest" cycle at Palazzo Citterio

From March 14 to May 11, 2025, Palazzo Citterio in Milan is hosting The Arlesiana (Portrait of M.me Ginoux) by Vincent Van Gogh (Zundert, 1853 - Auvers-sur-Oise, 1890). The work, dated 1890 and from the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rome, marks the beginning of a new exhibition cycle entitled The Guest. The project, designed to enrich the cultural offerings of Palazzo Citterio-a Grande Brera space reopened to the public on Dec. 7-is to temporarily host major masterpieces from international museums and institutions. The choice of the title The Guest is not accidental: the term comes from the Latin word hospes, which encompasses the dual meaning of “one who welcomes” and “one who is welcomed.” It is therefore about exposing a work to the public and taking care of it, studying it, putting it in dialogue with its context and viewers.

The Arlesiana is a portrait with deep symbolic value. The woman depicted is Marie Ginoux, owner of the Café de la Gare in Arles, a place frequented by Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin during their stay in Provence between 1888 and 1889. A dramatic quarrel between the two culminated in the well-known incident of Van Gogh’s self-mutilation of his ear, an event that marked the end of their artistic cohabitation. After that tragic moment, the Ginoux couple offered support to the artist, accompanying him during the most difficult moments of his nervous disorders. Marie Ginoux appears several times in the works of Van Gogh and Gauguin, but the 1890 version, now at Palazzo Citterio, is distinguished by a deeper introspection. Unlike the earlier depictions, here the figure is immersed in a calm atmosphere. The face resting on the left hand, the melancholy gaze and the imperceptible smile suggest a more intimate psychological dimension. The traditional Provençal costume lends solemnity to the portrait, while the lighter, brighter palette conveys a new, almost resigned serenity.

A further detail is provided by the presence of the two books on the table: Harriet Beecker Stowe’s La Case de l’Oncle Tom (Uncle Tom’s Hut) and Charles Dickens’ Contes de Noël (Christmas Tales). Marie Ginoux, who had assisted Van Gogh in his darkest moments, embodies the figure of compassion and resilience. The volumes thus allude to her ability to understand and support the artist, an empathy that emerges powerfully from the painting’s composition. Van Gogh himself emphasized the symbolic value of The Arlesiana in a letter to Gauguin: “it is a painting that you will understand, you, I and a few other people know how we would like it to be understood.”

“With the arrival at Palazzo Citterio of a Van Gogh, coming from the Gnamc in Rome,” says Angelo Crespi, Director General of the Pinacoteca di Brera, "we inaugurate L’ospite, a series of collaborations with other institutions, not only museums, that involve the extraordinary loan of a work both incoming and outgoing. A project that implements the theme of enhancing the collections in the simplest and most immediate way, and at the same time prestigious."

“As part of the collaboration agreement initiated with Grande Brera,” says Cristina Mazzantini, director of the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rome, "which generously granted numerous loans for the marvelous exhibition Il Tempo del futurismo, assisting its success, Gnamc offers the city of Milan the Arlesiana, one of the two Van Goghs held in its collection, the most important in the world of modern and contemporary Italian art, which includes among its 20.000 works also international masterpieces by Klimt, Monet, Degas, Cézanne, Mondrian, Duchamp, Giacometti, Kandinsky, Warhol, Pollock, Kapoor and many others. The aim is to create an ideal bridge between Rome and Milan, based on the exchange of works from their respective collections and leaning toward a joint enhancement of the ’new masters’ of Italian art, through a shared program of temporary exhibitions."

Practical information.

Hours: Thursday to Sunday, 2-7 p.m.

Admission: Palazzo Citterio only, full, €12.00; reduced, €8.00

Van Gogh in Milan: the Arlesiana opens "The Guest" cycle at Palazzo Citterio

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.