1. Because
Ginoux says that he has delivered the frame to the hospital bursar, it is not likely that this frame was intended for one of the paintings still in Arles, since these were being stored at Ginoux’s (cf.
letter 760). It is more reasonable to assume that the frame was made for a work that Van Gogh had given to his doctor,
Félix Rey. Rey, at any rate, is the only hospital employee known to have received work from Van Gogh. He owned his portrait,
Félix Rey (
F 500 / JH 1659 );
see letter 736. According to Rey, he was also given the ‘Spitalgarten’ (hospital garden) (presumably
The courtyard of the hospital in Arles (
F 519 / JH 1687 ) and the ‘Krankenstube mit dem Selbstbildnis des Malers’ (patients’ sitting room with a self-portrait of the painter) (this probably refers to
Ward in the hospital (
F 646 / JH 1686 ), though this painting was never in his possession). See Max Braumann, ‘Beim Freunden Van Goghs in Arles: Reiserinnerungen’,
Kunst und Künstler 26 (1928), p. 452. It was previously assumed that the frame was intended for
Avenue of chestnut trees in blossom (
F 517 / JH 1689 ), but that was stored at Ginoux’s and subsequently rolled up and sent to Theo;
see letter 789 and cf. Jansen 1998, p. 65.