House of Dr Gachet

If only walls could talk. Behind the imposing white façade of Dr. Gachet’s house there still hums the echo of the lively conversations that took place there from 1872, when the doctor, a passionate art lover, moved in. Set at the heart of a verdant garden in Auvers-sur-Oise, the house welcomed some of the great Impressionist masters, including Cézanne, Pissarro and Guillaumin, as well as, later, Van Gogh.

Following a request from Pissarro, Dr. Gachet met Van Gogh in Auvers in 1890, when the Dutch artist returned from the south of France where he had been interned in a mental asylum. Van Gogh went on to realise three portraits of the physician, including his famous “Portrait of Dr. Gachet”, on display at the Musée d’Orsay.

Now owned by the municipality, the superb country house has preserved much of its original décor. A listed historic monument since 1991, it first opened to the public in 2003, on the 150th anniversary of Van Gogh’s birth.

In the intimacy of the painters

As you wander around the house, you will notice many remarkably preserved objects from the era, including impressive pharmaceutical bottles and jars where the doctor kept his pigments, and his manual printmaking press.

Don’t forget to visit the studio before taking a stroll around the gardens. Here, you can see the vermilion table immortalised by Van Gogh in his portraits of Dr. Gachet. An art collector, the doctor bought many of the artist’s works, which are today held at the Musée d’Orsay.

An interesting side note: the ivy that surrounds the graves of Vincent Van Gogh and his brother Theo in the village graveyard comes originally from Dr. Gachet’s garden.

Discover the House of Dr Gachet through one of the treasure hunts in the Paris Region Adventures application specially designed for families and downloadable free of charge.