There is much information on Van Gogh’s art and life available. This blog will offer the viewer a brief history of his life, his art and his style.
This artist was born in Groot-Zundert, in the southern Netherlands, on 30 March 1853 to Anna Cornelia Carbentus and Theodorus van Gogh, a pastor. He was one of six children. In 1869 he began studying at the Academy of Art in The Hague, but found it to be a major culture shock, and he left after a year.
The artist moved to Brussels in 1880 where he continued studying but he did not enjoy it there either. In 1886 he moved back to Paris where he met many influential artists of the time including Degas, Gauguin, Monet and Toulouse-Lautrec.
From 1888 until 1890 Van Gogh lived in Arles with his brother Theo and his painter friend Paul Gauguin, known as an impressionist artist for his use of color. During this time Van Gogh began experimenting with painting techniques such as using multiple colors from different tubes at once; layering colors on top of one another; and using the same brush to create lines in different colors which would create an optical blend of color
I started this blog a few years ago to help my granddaughter survive the high school art classes she had been forced to take. In her previous school, she had taken a class that focused on art for art’s sake and not on history, which is what I wanted for her. In her new school, she was forced to take a class that focused on art for historical sake and not on art.
Telling the story of van gogh through his own paintings was just a way to get her interested in art. She loved it and soon developed an interest in all kinds of art.
I hope you enjoy these posts as much as we have enjoyed them.
Art is a form of expression, and the history of art is the story of how people express themselves over time. Van Gogh, an artist who has been called one of the greatest painters of all time, wrote about his work as well as painted.
Truly understanding an artist’s work requires a good deal of information about the period in which he lived. Our blog offers this kind of insight into the life and work of Vincent van Gogh.
The period from 1880 to 1890 was an active one for van Gogh, with the artist painting portraits, landscapes and still lifes. He read works by Japanese printmakers and by French authors, such as Baudelaire, who was interested in decadence and spiritual crisis. By 1885 and 1886, van Gogh had created many paintings that expressed his personal feelings about religion and spirituality.
Art and culture is something that I have always been interested in, and one of my favorite artists is Vincent Van Gogh. I love his style of painting and his use of color to create unique compositions. He was a master at painting with emotion. The feeling that you get looking at his paintings is one of the reasons he has been such a prolific artist for so many years.
Towards the end of his life, Van Goghs work was known in Holland and he was beginning to make a name for himself. However, he had very little money and no means to support himself. He was also struggling with depression and mental illness, which made it difficult for him to find happiness in his life. In hopes that he would be able to find a new way of life, Vincent decided to move to Paris where he would be able to find better opportunities. This lead him on an adventure across Europe where he shared time with other brilliant artists that were able to encourage him in his work.
In 1888, Vincent moved back home and lived with his brother Theo who provided him with a place where he could live and work as well as help support his art career. In 1890, Van Gogh found out that Theo was having financial difficulties because of an obligation that he had
Van Gogh’s “The Starry Night” is a masterpiece of painting. It is one of the most valuable paintings in the world, although it was not appreciated until after his death. The painting is full of brilliant use of color and light. The art critics have said this about Van Gogh’s work; “He turned his canvas into a world where nature and humanity merge without division.”
Van Gogh’s life was filled with tragedy, but his paintings gave him the opportunity to express himself. He painted many self-portraits which were very different in style and expression from each other. In order to understand the meaning of “The Starry Night”, we must first look back in time and discover the history of Van Gogh’s life.
Van Gogh’s artistic reputation grew in the years following his death, although amongst art critics his work was often derided as the work of an amateur, and many of his paintings were described as unfinished. In April 1892, and Félix Fénéon wrote in their review of the Salon des Indépendants that Van Gogh’s intervention in the exhibition of Paul Gauguin’s paintings was “unjustifiable.” This event prompted Van Gogh to return to Paris and seek out Gauguin.
Towards the end of November 1892, he returned to the Yellow House where he lived with his brother for approximately a year before leaving again in late 1894. During this time he completed around 200 paintings, many of which were still lifes or portraits of people that he had recently met. He also began to paint those still lifes for which he is best known, such as “Still Life: Vase with Twelve Sunflowers” (1888).
In February 1893, Van Gogh went on a ten-day trip from Saint-Rémy to Paris with a young doctor who was just starting in his profession. During this trip he had his first encounter with the works of Impressionism and Japonism exhibited at the
I was in Amsterdam for a few days and since I’m a big fan of Van Gogh’s art, bought a ticket to the museum. I have to say that it is one of the best museums I have ever visited. Van Gogh was an amazing artist and the museum covers his life from the early years up until his death.
There is a quote above one of his paintings in the museum that says “I am still discovering myself.” Sadly, by the time he died at 37, he had only discovered a small fragment of his potential. The museum does a great job of displaying many of his early works and also showing how he moved towards more serious pieces. He moved towards more vibrant colors (ie: sunflowers) and in some ways towards darker subjects (ie: cypress trees).
Towards the end of his life, he created many self-portraits, which are very interesting because you can see how his mental state deteriorated as he became more and more addicted to pain killers.**
**What I mean here is that there is no individual who has invented a way to make money by doing exactly what you want to do all day every day – unless you already happen to be filthy rich. There are certainly people who don’t want for