He painted whenever he could, believing that in work lay his only chance for sanity. In April, following periods of intense work interrupted by recurring mental disturbances, Van Gogh committed himself to a sanitarium in St.-Rémy. It was soon clear that their personalities and artistic temperaments were incompatible, and Van Gogh suffered a breakdown just before Christmas. Van Gogh hoped to attract like-minded painters to Arles, but only Gauguin joined him, staying about two months. His activity was not undisciplined quite the opposite, he worked diligently to perfect his craft. Yet his densely painted canvases remained connected to nature-their colors and rhythmic surfaces communicate the spiritual power he believed inhabited and shaped nature's forms. Working feverishly, Van Gogh pushed his style to greater expression with intense, energetic brushwork and saturated, complementary colors. He hoped Provence’s warm climate would relax him and that the brilliant colors and strong light of the south would provide inspiration for his art. Although stimulated by the city’s artistic environment, Van Gogh found life in Paris physically exhausting and moved in early 1888 to Arles.
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