Van Gogh's Bedroom, Saint Paul de Mausole, Saint-Rémy de Provence

On May 8, 1889 Vincent van Gogh voluntarily entered the asylum of St. Paul, near Saint-Rémy in the Provence region of southern France. Saint-Paul, which began as an Augustine monastery in the 12th century, was converted into an asylum in the 19th century. His brother Theo arranged for two small rooms—adjoining cells with barred windows. The second was to be used as a studio. Van Gogh was initially confined to the immediate asylum grounds and painted (without the bars) the world he saw from his room, such as ivy covered trees, lilacs, and irises of the garden. Through the open bars Van Gogh could also see an enclosed wheat field, subject of many paintings at Saint-Rémy. As he ventured outside of the asylum walls, he painted the wheat fields, olive groves, and cypress trees of the surrounding countryside, which he saw as "characteristic of Provence." Over the course of the year, he painted about 150 canvases.