The Yellow House by Susan Goldman Rubin

The Yellow House is a picture book, written by Susan Goldman Rubin, about Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin’s eight weeks as roommates in southern France. Rubin skillfully tells the story of the friendship that falls apart while the two artists live and paint side-by-side in Arles.

Rubin compares the artists’ painting styles, describing van Gogh as a painter who dashes paint onto his canvas in order to capture a scene quickly, while Gauguin takes his time, sketching his pictures before carefully applying thin layers of paint to the canvas. Jos. A. Smith illustrates these differences by placing paintings by each artist on the same page. He also adds his own drawings to show van Gogh and Gauguin painting together in the fields of Arles. Smith uses the same colors as the artists to show the sunbathed South of France that both painters fell in love with.

This book is an excellent introduction to van Gogh, Gauguin, and the most productive eight weeks of both their careers.

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