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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VINCENT VAN GOGH Those whose paint the picture of a perfect image are the ones who suffer the most. The ones who go through the most pain but rather not tire anyone else with their problems. These are the people who bring beauty and kindness to the world. I present Vincent Van Gogh. The man who changed.

VAN GOGH'S LIFE

MANY ARE NOT WHAT ONE SEEMS. SOME ARE VIEWED WITH SMILES AND BUT OFFER GREAT DEMONS WITH THE LIFE THEY FOLLOW. THE PATH THAT IS SET FOR THEM. THIS IS THE CASE OF VINCENT VAN GOGH, AN ARTIST OF THE POST-IMPRESSIONIST ERA.

        IN THE BEGINNING OF HIS LIFE VAN GOGH HAD BEEN A TROUBLED KID. SUFFERING FROM TEMPER PROBLEMS TO DEPRESSION. NOT TYPICALLY INTERESTED IN ART DURING THE TIME OF HIS CHILDHOOD. BORN IN SOUTHERN NETHERLANDS ON MARCH 30, 1853. HE WAS THE SECOND OLDEST CHILD BORN TO A DEVOTED DUTCH CHURCH FAMILY AT THE TIME. HE CAME IN AND OUT OF BOARDING SCHOOL EVENTUALLY DROPPING OUT IN 1868 AND BECOMING AN APPRENTICE AT AN ART DEALERSHIP WHERE HE FOUND A STABLE JOB AT THE FIRM FOR AT LEAST A DECADE. THEN HE LEFT THIS JOB AND BECAME A CLERGY BUT HE WAS SOON DISMISSED BECAUSE HE WAS TOO DEVOTED. EVENTUALLY BUILDING A CONNECTION AND DICTATED THAT HE COULD PAINT AND STILL BE DEVOTED TO THE LORD. BEING FINANCIALLY SUPPORTED BY HIS YOUNGER BROTHER THEO THROUGHOUT THE YEARS. 

        INFLUENCED BY THE IMPRESSIONIST, SUCH AS MONET, DURING HIS TIME IN FRANCE, CHANGED HIS PALETTE TO LIGHTER COLORS COMPARED TO THE DARKER ONES. PETER PAUL RUBEN WAS HIS GREATEST INFLUENCER WHEN HE ATTENDED THE ACADEMY OF ART AND THIS IS NOTICEABLE SINCE LOOSER STROKES AND SWIRLING FORMS ARE APPLIED IN HIS ARTWORK. VIEWED SPECIFICALLY IN "STARRY NIGHT".

       LATER ON IN HIS LIFE THOUGH MENTAL STABILITY WAS NOT ONE OF HIS FORTES AS HE WORKED ALONG WITH PAUL GAUGUIN. DEVELOPING A METHOD OF INCORPORATING COLORS THROUGH EMOTION RATHER THAN NATURE. HOWEVER, A CONFLICT OCCURS WHEN VAN GOGH IS HAVING AN EPISODE AND TRIES TO ATTACK HIS PARTNER WITH A RAZOR BUT INSTEAD CUTS PART OF HIS LEFT EAR OFF. ON MAY 8 1889 HE VOLUNTARILY ENROLLED HIMSELF IN A MENTAL INSTITUTE TO WORK ON HIMSELF. HIS PIECES OF WORK STILL NOT SELLING IN THE PAST, BUT IF HE COULD BEHOLD THE FUTURE HE WOULD BE DIFFERENT. A MAJORITY OF HIS MOST FAMOUS PAINTINGS CREATED AT HIS TIME IN THE INSTITUTE. INSPIRED BY HIS DAILY WALKS AND THE NATURE THAT WAS PRESENTED TOWARDS HIM. ONCE RELEASED AGAIN HE FOUND PAINTING TO BE THERAPEUTIC UNTIL ONE DAY HIS DEPRESSION HIT HIM HARDER THAN EVER. ON JULY 27 1890 VAN GOGH WALKED ONTO A FIELD AND SHOT HIMSELF IN THE CHEST. ONLY LASTING TWO MORE DAYS UNTIL HE FACED DEATH FOR A FINAL TIME. HIS BROTHER THEO BEING THE LAST PERSON TO REST BY HIS BED IN HIS FINAL MOMENTS.

Van Gogh "Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat" 1887, Oil on Canvas, 

HIS STYLE Oleanders

Van Gogh has been famous for his paintings more specifically for using the technique of Impasto. This technique being when paint is planted thickly on a canvas causing for the palette knife strokes to be visible. Adding texture to the artwork. Allowing for him to deliver emotions and movement with the bright colors influenced by the Impressionism movement. As well as the loose strokes and swirling movements influenced by Peter Paul Rubens. Overall just being able to translate to the audience his emotions or how he wished he felt through out. Being part of the Post-Impressionism movement himself. Meaning that during the time of his artwork that continued to use vivid colors and thick applications of paint but rather focusing on geometric shapes to create an unnatural or unfinished look.

Oleanders by Vincent Van Gogh from 1888 presents a painting of oil on canvas currently viewable to the public in Gallery 825 at The Met. Having a great importance to Van Gogh since to him they represented a joy, dedication, and stubbornness. Never tired of trying their best. Important to him since they brought him peace and hope, hope that his mental and physical well being would get better. Impasto present through the image and texture viewable. This is one of my favorite pieces because of the meaning behind the artwork. Almost as if they provide hope for the hopeless. The colors of the flowers, a lightish pink, dominating the picture and a creation of motion depicted through the shadows and the loose strokes.  VINCENT VAN GOGH'S ART

Wheat Field with Cypresses created in 1889, a year after Oleanders, by Vincent Van Gogh is also open to the public at The Met Fifth Avenue on Gallery 822. It was created in late June and is part of series of the trees found in Saint-Remy where he spent a portion of his life. As said by him it was one of the best summer landscapes depicted. Including the thick impasto placed throughout the piece as well as the swirling pattern followed in the wheat, bush, and clouds. Also being one of my favorite pieces because of how thick the impasto. As well as for the combination of colors that makes the painting move in uniformity. 

Wheat Field with Cypresses Vincent van Gogh's Irises

THE FLOWERING ORCHARD

The Flowering Orchard is also another of the pieces created by Van Gogh of oil on canvas in 1888. As we have observed before we can see the clear admiration Vincent has withheld nature. Painted while he was in Arles emphasizing the long branches which demonstrate how he admired Japanese art. Observing that the painting also includes a rake and a scythe to demonstrate that there is or is a trace of humanity present in this nature. As well as being in his prime during painting because of the arrival of flowers blooming throughout. The bright vivid colors do not wash each other out but instead complement each other to make every object in the painting stand out on its own.

THE POTATO PEELER

Van Gogh also presents us with the art of The Potato Peeler made in his earlier years with art, 1885. Presenting another oil on canvas which, unlike the rest, represents dark undertones. This is drastically different from the rest of his work because this was before he was influenced by the Impressionism movement. The movement was when the artist left behind the dark colors and replaced them with lighter, vibrant colors. As well as seeing the blockiness and detail with which he painted the woman, which is unusual in a lot of his work. Also how this piece does not have much of an unfinished look like later works by him. Found as well on The Med Fifth Avenue Gallery 825.

SHOES

Shoes is a piece of art created by Vincent Van Gogh once again in 1888 being an oil on canvas. It can also be viewed on The Met Fifth Avenue Gallery 822. In this piece were are presented with one of the lifeless objects, shoes or boots, that he painted while he lived or was visiting Paris. The red tile at the bottom helps us identify that the bottom or the floor belongs to another piece of his work Yellow House. Seeing the mixture of not only light colors but of dark colors as well. Including the dark blue who seems to place the shadow made by the shoes. Impasto not being really noticeable in this piece of art. The color that is mainly standing out as well being the brown of the shoes which is noticeably darker.

FIRST STEPS, AFTER MILLET

Van Gogh presents us with another of his famous paintings created in 1890. First Steps, After Millet is a work of oil on canvas in which he covered the painting of one of his influential artists, Millet. The painting was down while he was in the asylum which he signed himself up for. Adding color to the photograph in which one of the artist he admired took. Incorporating impasto to it to create enough facial expressions for a face but not enough for the identity to be uncovered. The swirling shape of the painting knife still present throughout the work which he translated. Found as well on The Med Fifth Avenue Gallery 825.

Works Cited

Bührle, E., and Vincent van Gogh. “Vincent van Gogh | Wheat Field with Cypresses.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436535. Accessed 2 May 2024.

Butler, Meg. “The Emotion behind Van Gogh's Brushstrokes.” Getty, 24 August 2023, https://www.getty.edu/news/impasto-paint-how-to-van-gogh-art-style-technique/. Accessed 2 May 2024.

van Gogh, Vincent. “Vincent van Gogh | First Steps, after Millet.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436526. Accessed 2 May 2024.

van Gogh, Vincent. “Vincent van Gogh | Oleanders.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436530. Accessed 2 May 2024.

van Gogh, Vincent. “Vincent van Gogh | Shoes.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436533. Accessed 2 May 2024.

van Gogh, Vincent. “Vincent van Gogh | The Flowering Orchard.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436527. Accessed 2 May 2024.

van Gogh, Vincent. “Vincent van Gogh | The Potato Peeler (reverse: Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat).” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/438722. Accessed 2 May 2024.

van Gogh, Vincent, and Simon Schama. “Vincent van Gogh Paintings, Bio, Ideas | TheArtStory.” The Art Story, 21 January 2012, https://www.theartstory.org/artist/van-gogh-vincent/. Accessed 2 May 2024.

“Vincent van Gogh.” MoMA, https://www.moma.org/artists/2206. Accessed 2 May 2024.