Many of the early writers on Van Gogh knew that a painting of the Tarascon Coach existed because of a letter from Vincent to his brother, Theo, in which he described the work and drew a sketch of it. The sketch was reproduced in early books on Van Gogh with the statement that the original painting was lost. In Vincent's letters to Theo, he keeps reminding him to please re-read Alphonse Daudet's Tartarin of Tarascon. Daudet describes the dream of the "Diligence," or coach, which had been transplanted to northern Africa for use as the main method of transportation; of the traveling Arabs who neglected the coach until it was rundown and unfit for use, and finally broken up for firewood. Vincent paints these coaches in a somewhat dilapidated state.
Vincent relates in his letter to Theo that he painted the Tarascon Diligence in a single afternoon: "Forgive this very bad sketch, I am nearly dead with painting that Tarascon Diligence, and I see that I have not the brains to draw." He was at a very high emotional state at the time, preparing his house for Gauguin's arrival to live with him, and anxious to have many of his paintings on the walls showing his own individuality before the latter arrived. I had the pleasure of showing the painting to Vincent Van Gogh, the nephew of the painter, who was seeing this work for the first time although he had known of its existence for many years.