VAN GOGH’S PALETTE

A virtual reality experience written and directed by Agnès Molia & Gordon

Vincent van Gogh spends the final two months of his life in Auvers- sur-Oise, where Doctor Gachet lives, a friend of the Impressionists, a ­collector and an amateur painter. On 27 June 1890, the doctor lends Van Gogh a palette so that the artist could finish the portrait of his daughter ­Marguerite. This historic palette is now part of the Musée d’­Orsay’s collection. Serving as an imaginary virtual landscape, Van ­Gogh’s Palette offers visitors a uniquely interactive and sensory ­experience of works painted by Van Gogh during this crucial period ­ of his career.

A multisensory universe

The palette: In order to recreate Van Gogh’s palette in 3D, photogrammetry software was used to find the painting’s materiality, sculpted by brushstrokes, along with all the tiny variations of color.

The guide: in this particular universe, the guide is Van Gogh’s The Kingfisher, a painting that now hangs in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. On each occasion, its flight indicates the area of the palette into which the user is teleported and the objects with which they are invited to interact.

Interacting with matter: interactions made possible throughout the experience enable the user to manipulate Van Gogh’s pictorial matter in order to understand his way of working. Their whole body is engaged in this confrontation with the painting. Three types of interactions have been developed: distortion, colors and brushstrokes.

The music: the piano notes are from Liszt’s transcriptions of operas by Wagner, whom Vincent van Gogh greatly admired. The melodies have been reworked, either slowing them down or speeding them up, so as to suggest the disorientation and suspended time during which the artist painted his works.

A VR experience directed by Agnès Molia and Gordon
Sound: Côme Jalibert
Artistic direction: Timothée Marnat
Lead developer: Julien Daniel-Moliner

3D Designers: Valentine Maugard Alexandre Sauderais
Tech Artist: Théotime Calandra
Scientific advisor: Wouter van Der Veen
Executive production: Lucid Realities, TSVP
Producer: Chloé Jarry (Lucid Realities)
Head of production: Alessandra Bogi (Lucid Realities)
Production assistants: Clélie Chassignet, Maxime Goletto (Lucid Realities)

Producer: Christie Molia (TSVP)
Head of production: Erwan Eliès (TSVP)
Production administrator: Gilbert Henrique(TSVP)
Project manager: Delphine Le Goueff
Coproducers: Le musée d’Orsay, VIVE Arts
Ditribution: Alexandre Roux (Unframed Collection)
With the support of: CNC, de la Procirep – Société des ­producteurs et de l’Angoa