Elena Rossi
Vincent van Gogh was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. Van Gogh's work was only beginning to gain critical attention before he died, and during his lifetime, only one of his paintings, The Red Vineyard, was sold. Van Gogh's work is characterized by bold colours, dramatic brushwork, and contoured forms, which contributed to the rise of expressionism in modern art. The artist believed that the act of painting would help restore balance to his life, and he perceived colour as having a psychological and moral weight. Van Gogh's paintings often reflected his changing mental state, oscillating between lively and ominous themes.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Artistic goal | To bring consolation to humanity through art |
| Artistic inspiration | To restore balance to his life |
| Artistic style | Post-Impressionist |
| Artistic technique | Use of impulsive, gestural application of paint and symbolic colors to express subjective emotions |
| Artistic themes | Rural life, nature, and landscapes |
| Artistic influences | Rembrandt, Frans Hals, Jean-François Millet, Camille Corot, Japanese Ukiyo-e woodblock prints |
| Artistic output | Approximately 2,100 artworks, including around 860 oil paintings, most of them in the last two years of his life |
| Artistic recognition | Only one painting sold during his lifetime; became one of the most recognized painters after his death |
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What You'll Learn
Van Gogh's use of colour
Vincent van Gogh was a prolific Post-Impressionist painter known for his expressive use of colour. He believed that colours had a "psychological and moral weight", and that they could convey emotions and moods. Van Gogh's interest in colour theory led him to experiment with different pigments and explore the interplay of light and dark shades.
Van Gogh's early works, such as "Still Life with Cabbage and Clogs", were characterised by sombre earth tones, with hints of vibrant colours that would become more prominent in his later works. During his time in Paris, Van Gogh was exposed to various artistic styles, including Japanese Ukiyo-e woodblock prints, which may have influenced his use of colour. He also studied colour theory and discovered the concept of complementary colours—how certain colour pairs, such as red and green, yellow and purple, or blue and orange, intensified each other when placed next to each other.
Van Gogh put this theory into practice in his paintings, often using complementary colours to create contrast and evoke specific emotions. For example, in his "Self-Portrait as a Painter", he used orange for the hair and beard and blue for the clothes, creating a vibrant and modern effect. In another painting, he used red and green to capture a nocturnal atmosphere, while in his famous "Sunflowers", he limited his palette to yellow, the colour of the sun, symbolising life, energy, and happiness.
Van Gogh also used colour to convey moods and emotions in his landscapes. He often used yellow ochre to create warm, golden tones, conveying tranquility and peacefulness. Prussian blue was another favourite, used to create deep, rich blues in his night scenes, evoking a sense of mystery and wonder. As his mental health deteriorated towards the end of his life, Van Gogh transitioned to a cooler colour spectrum, using more green and blue, as seen in "Thatched Cottages at Cordeville".
Van Gogh's innovative use of colour played a pivotal role in the development of modern art movements, from Fauvism to Abstract Expressionism. His unique style and bold technique continue to inspire and influence artists today.
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His mental health struggles
Vincent van Gogh is one of the most famous artists in the world, but he is often perceived as the ""mad" artist whose paintings are mere visual manifestations of his troubled mind. While this may be true to an extent, his unique artistic style was of enormous importance to the artists who followed him.
Van Gogh's mental health struggles were lifelong and well documented. He was born into an upper-middle-class family in Holland and raised by religious parents who emphasised the importance of living a life in service of God. However, he frequently struggled to maintain a career and tried numerous odd jobs before deciding to become a preacher like his father. He began to study the Bible but was promptly let go by the Church. He then found himself feeling lost and purposeless. It was his brother, Theo, who eventually convinced him to pursue painting in order to serve God through art.
Van Gogh's first formal job after leaving school was art-related; he took an apprenticeship at his uncle's branch of Goupil & Cie, a Paris-based art dealership. This exposed him to contemporary art, but he soon moved on to religious work and a brief stint as a bookseller. He then decided to pursue painting. During this time, he also faced rejection in love, which caused him to become increasingly solitary.
In 1888, Van Gogh moved to Arles, where he worked closely with Paul Gauguin and developed a concept of colour symbolic of inner emotion. However, Gauguin left for Tahiti, partially to escape Van Gogh's increasingly erratic behaviour. Van Gogh slipped away after a particularly violent fight in which he threatened Gauguin with a razor and then cut off part of his own left ear.
In May 1889, Van Gogh voluntarily committed himself to a psychiatric institution in Saint-Remy, near Arles. He suffered from hallucinations and delusions of poisoning. The townspeople described him as "le fou roux" ("the redheaded madman"). In 1890, Gauguin proposed that they form a studio in Antwerp, but Van Gogh died later that year, from a self-inflicted gunshot at the age of 37.
Van Gogh's mental health struggles are frequently displayed in his paintings, which oscillate between lively and ominous themes, reflecting his changing mental state. He believed that the act of painting would help restore balance to his life, and that colour expressed something in itself, holding "psychological and moral weight". Yellow meant the most to him, as it symbolised emotional truth, sunlight, life, and God. He also believed that a power existed behind nature, which he tried to capture in his art, sometimes through the use of symbols.
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Artistic influences
Van Gogh's work was influenced by a variety of artists and art movements, as well as his own personal beliefs and experiences.
Van Gogh's early works, completed from 1881 to 1883, reflect a novice's attention to detail and realism, with hints of the genius that would emerge in his later paintings. During this period, he produced watercolour drawings and sketches, as well as his first paintings, such as 'Still Life With Cabbage and Clogs', which make use of the sombre earth tones characteristic of the Dutch style. In 1881, he studied with Anton Mauve, a master in The Hague School of Art, who introduced him to watercolours and oils, broadening his artistic scope of expression.
In 1885, Van Gogh produced 'The Potato Eaters', a painting of five farm workers sharing a meal. He used muted colours to encapsulate the harsh living conditions of the potato farmers. This work was considered his breakthrough masterpiece, though it was not well-received by critics at the time.
While in Paris, Van Gogh was exposed to a variety of artistic styles, including Japanese Ukiyo-e woodblock prints by masters like Hiroshige and Hokusai, which he collected and considered as important as works by European artists like Rubens and Rembrandt. He was also influenced by trend-setting Impressionist painters, though he struggled to master their techniques and instead developed his own unique style.
In 1888, Van Gogh moved to Arles, where he worked closely with Paul Gauguin. Together, they developed a concept of colour symbolic of inner emotion and not dependent upon nature. During this period, Van Gogh painted 'The Bedroom in Arles', which uses contrasting colours and lacks perspective, resembling a Japanese print.
In his later years, Van Gogh transitioned to a green and blue colour spectrum, as seen in 'Thatched Cottages at Cordeville', where he also used curved, undulating lines to indicate movement and energy.
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Post-impressionist style
Vincent van Gogh is considered a Post-Impressionist painter. Post-Impressionism is a Western painting movement that originated in France in the late 19th century. It is characterised as both an extension of Impressionism and a rejection of its limitations.
Van Gogh spent time with Impressionists in Paris from 1886 to 1888, during which he learned to paint in the Impressionist style, adopting the short, quick brushstrokes and colourful palette of the Impressionists. However, he soon moved beyond Impressionism, creating a unique, Post-Impressionist aesthetic.
Van Gogh's Post-Impressionist style is best exemplified in his bold, clashing colours, which he used to represent an intense visual world. He frequently used black for outlines and shadows, a feature generally avoided by Impressionists. Van Gogh's paintings often featured yellow tones with contrasting colours, and his brushstrokes were curving, vibrant lines of colour, exaggerated even beyond Impressionist brilliance.
Van Gogh's Post-Impressionist style is also evident in his subject matter. Unlike Impressionists, he did not seek to capture light or natural forms in a realistic way. Instead, his use of light and colour is highly artificial in many paintings. He was also influenced by Japanese art, which can be seen in the flat composition and distinct outlines of some of his later paintings.
Van Gogh's Post-Impressionist style is often considered a precursor to Expressionism, with his bold colours and dramatic brushwork contributing to the rise of Expressionism in modern art.
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The meaning of sunflowers
Sunflowers is a series of artworks made by Post-Impressionist artist Vincent van Gogh, who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. Van Gogh's oeuvre includes landscapes, still lifes, portraits, and self-portraits, most of which are characterised by bold colours and dramatic brushwork that contributed to the rise of expressionism in modern art.
Van Gogh believed that the act of painting would help restore balance to his life, demonstrating the important role that artistic creation held for him. He perceived colour as having a "psychological and moral weight", and yellow meant the most to him, as it symbolised emotional truth, sunlight, life, and God. In Sunflowers, Van Gogh used subtle use of contrast, light, and dominant colour to help viewers build a connection with the simplicity and soberness of the Vincent character. The painting consists of fifteen flowers in a vase with a light background, with six of them as the centre of attention, consisting of the seeds with no petals, symbolising the dried version of the sunflower. The carefree arrangement of the flowers depicts Van Gogh's artistic skills.
Sunflowers was painted during a rare period of excited optimism as Van Gogh awaited the arrival of his hero, the avant-garde painter Paul Gauguin. Gauguin and Van Gogh worked closely together in Arles and developed a concept of colour symbolic of inner emotion and not dependent upon nature. However, Gauguin fled Arles after a particularly violent fight in which Van Gogh threatened him with a razor and then cut off part of his own left ear.
Sunflowers is one of the most popular paintings in the National Gallery and is the painting that Van Gogh was most proud of. The painting is often reproduced on cards, posters, mugs, tea-towels and stationery.
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Frequently asked questions
Van Gogh believed that the act of painting would help restore balance to his life, and that art could bring consolation to humanity. He also believed that painting could be a way to serve God.
Van Gogh was influenced by Charles Blanc's treatise on colour, which led him to work with complementary colours. He believed that colour had a "psychological and moral weight" and that it expressed something in itself. Yellow meant the most to him, as it symbolised emotional truth, sunlight, life, and God.
Van Gogh's early works reflect a novice's attention to detail, with hints of genius to come. He studied with Anton Mauve, who introduced him to watercolours and oils, broadening his scope of expression. Van Gogh also developed his style by observing the works of other artists, including Rembrandt, Frans Hals, Jean-François Millet, and Camille Corot.
