Chasing the Light Along the Oise

Once you have seen Dr. Gachet's house, walk back toward the station and stop for a drink or a light meal at a café or restaurant near the town hall. Absinthe, which Van Gogh reportedly liked to drink, is far too strong, so we don't recommend it. Continue a little past the station and the banks of the Oise will appear on your right. Head down to the riverside path. You will see locals strolling unhurriedly, and on hot days people paddle past in kayaks and canoes. It is a peaceful, beautiful village.

How did Van Gogh end up living in such a small, quiet place? Auvers-sur-Oise is picture-perfect, and only 30 minutes from Paris by rail, so in the mid to late 19th century, starting with Daubigny, emerging painters such as Cézanne, Pissarro and Corot stayed here. It was an artists' village on a par with Barbizon, near Paris, which had made its mark on modern art history since Rousseau and Millet. When Van Gogh arrived at the Ravoux Inn, all the other rooms were reportedly taken by painters from the Netherlands and America.

The Impressionists considered outdoor work essential, and to capture light they naturally followed water, which reflects light best. The Barbizon painters mostly portrayed the humble lives of country folk, yet their style was somehow dark and bleak. As painting shifted from Realism to Impressionism, canvases grew brighter, and light was one reason. To express it, painters went to places with water, such as rivers and the sea. That is why Giverny, where Monet painted his water lilies, the banks of the Oise, Honfleur, where he painted Impression, Sunrise, the elephant-shaped rock of Étretat and the whole Normandy coast became Impressionist settings.

Take a stroll along the Oise with its wide, open views. Look at the river and shift your gaze left, then right, and the water, surely the same river, seems a different colour on each side. That is the light. Once you notice it, you will understand why the Impressionists went outdoors and followed the water to capture it. Walk where Van Gogh, Daubigny and Pissarro once painted and you can discover for yourself the big idea behind Impressionism: that impressions shift as the light changes. Now it's your turn to paint like them.