Finally, he moved to what he deemed the ‘Yellow House’ in Arles, France, which happened to be Jeanne’s hometown. Van Gogh was late in his career at this point, but Jeanne was just beginning her record-breaking long life.
She recalls meeting the painter when she was just 13. Jeanne would occasionally help out in her family’s fabric shop.
Jeanne recalled van Gogh coming in to purchase canvases several times. It’s possible one of these canvases is hung in a gallery right now because some of van Gogh’s most famous paintings came out of his time living in Arles.
A self-portrait by Vincent van Gogh. Image credit: Joseph Winterbotham Collection
Although he was unknown at the time, he still made a lasting impression. “He was ugly as sin, had a vile temper and smelled of booze,” Jeanne once said.
Her encounter was even recreated in the film Vincent et moi, about van Gogh’s life. Jeanne appeared as herself in the film, at the age of 114, earning herself another record for oldest actress.
Jeanne also met her husband Fernand in the shop, an encounter she would have remembered much more fondly.
Read more about the world’s oldest people in our Human Body section.
In Vincent et moi, Jeanne forgives van Gogh for his poor manners. Later research and the discovery of his old letters have revealed during his time in Arles, he was experiencing a severe mental health crisis. While this may have been his most productive time in the art world, he was not himself.
If the pair were to meet in another way and at a different time, perhaps their encounter would have more resembled van Gogh’s general thoughts on friendship.
In a letter written to Paul Gachet, van Gogh wrote: “The best consolation, if not the only remedy, is, it still seems to me, profound friendships […]. Thank you again for your visit, which gave me so much pleasure. Good handshake in thought. Yours truly, Vincent.”
Alas, it seems he wasn’t destined to be friends with Jeanne.