The Arles Bedroom of Van Gogh, Embodied in Three Paintings of His

choi

Mary Tompkins Lewis, Van Gogh Paints a Room of His Own; Bringing together three takes on a personal space. Wall Street Journal, Feb 18, 2016.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/van-goghs-bedrooms-review-1455750210

Quote:

(a) "Though he posed for a self-portrait with palette and brushes, and painted still lifes and figure compositions in corners of his ateliers, Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) never painted his studio. He did, however, paint his bedroom. In the small but compelling 'Van Gogh's Bedrooms,' an exhibition of about 35 of his paintings, drawings and illustrated letters curated by Gloria Groom of the Art Institute of Chicago * * *

(b) On the first painting of the bedroom (1888): "Embellished with portrait of the painter Eugène Boch, silhouetted in gold against a starry sky night, and of an exotic Zouave soldier in red and green (the originals are here as well), it was a work the painter considered his best to date.

"Van Gogh repeated the composition twice more while confined to an asylum at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence -- once to preserve the original image which he feared had suffered water damage, and again on a reduced scale for his family . * * * The second version * * * includes a self-portrait of the artist, who stares out from the recesses of his shattered dream.

Note:
(a)
(i) This is an exhibition review on
van Gogh’s Bedrooms. Art Institute of Chicago, (this week) Through May 10, 2016.
http://www.artic.edu/exhibition/van-goghs-bedrooms
(ii) The Art Institute of Chicago. Facebook, Feb 8, 2016
https://www.facebook.com/artic/posts/10153845904513150:0

(b) The three paintings of his bedroom are the main characters of the exhibition, which yet displays 32 other paintings of his as well.
(c) "he posed for a self-portrait with palette and brushes"

Portraits of Vincent van Gogh
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portraits_of_Vincent_van_Gogh
(There are three that fit the description: Self-Portrait with Dark Felt Hat at the Easel (1886); Self-Portrait as a Painter (December 1887 - February 1888); Self-Portrait (August 1889) )
(d) The WSJ review is locked behind pay wall, but you need not read the rest, which is about the painter and the other paintings.
(e) "portrait of the painter Eugène Boch, silhouetted in gold against a starry sky night"

Portraits by Vincent van Gogh
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portraits_by_Vincent_van_Gogh
(section 4.11 The Poet: Eugène Boch: born in Hainaut [which is a province of Belgium])

(f) a portrait "of an exotic Zouave soldier in red and green"
(i) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portraits_by_Vincent_van_Gogh
(section 4.6 The Lover: Paul-Eugène Milliet: October 1888)
(ii) But Mr van Gogh also executed three portraits of another Zouave. See

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portraits_by_Vincent_van_Gogh
(section 4.4 The Zouave: June 1988)

(g) Saint-Rémy-de-Provence
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-R%C3%A9my-de-Provence