He concentrates on blossoming fruit trees and later, in summer, on scenes of rural life. Color also becomes an expressive tool by which Vincent conveys particular emotions, an innovation that aligns his work with Postimpressionism. For Bedroom in Arles, he depicts his room with a stark simplicity, using uniform patches of complimentary orange and blue, yellow and violet, red and green. Gauguin finally arrives in Arles in October 1888. For nine weeks he and Vincent work together, painting and discussing art.
Personal tensions grow between the two men.
In December Vincent experiences a psychotic episode in which he threatens Gauguin with a razor and later cuts off a piece of his own left ear. He is admitted to a hospital in Arles and remains there through January of 1889. Theo, in Paris, marries Johanna Bonger in the spring. After his discharge from the hospital in Arles, Vincent is unable to organize his life or set up a new studio. He attributes his breakdown to excessive drink and perhaps tobacco, although he gives up neither.