Colors & form: He is known for using complimentary, contrasting colors which he used to intensify certain aspects in his work. He is also well known for a unique brushstroke: one that was rapid with thickly painted strokes laid closely together.
When did I first notice his work: When I was 15, my family and I went to New York for a one week holiday. We went to the opera, the cinema and various museums. In Museum of Modern Art I saw the first "real" van Gogh painting, which I will never forget: It is called "The starry night". It depicts the view outside of his sanatorium room window. I was literally standing there for fifteen minutes just staring at the picture. It is electric and fascinating, I absolutely adore it! It is also among his best known paintings and marks an important turn towards greater imaginative freedom in his art.
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| The Starry Night (MOMA, New York) |
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| The Red Vineyard |
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| The Sower |
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| Road With Cypress And Star |
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| Self-Portrait |
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| The Café Terrace on the Place du Forum, Arles, at Night |
Quotes:
He wrote about The Night Café: "I have tried to express the idea that the café is a place where on can ruin oneself, go mad, or commit a crime."
"If you hear a voice within you say "you cannot paint", then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced."
"I keep on making what I can't do yet in order to learn to be able to do it."
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| magpiepaperworks.com |
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| The Night Café |
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| White House At Night |
He had only sold one painting during his brief career.
He created many self-portraits during his lifetime. He painted himself 37 times between 1886 and 1869.
Van Gogh alternated between fits of madness and lucidity in his late stages and was sent to an asylum for treatment. He cut his ear off in one of his fits (a replica of his ear is currently shown in a German musem)
He shot himself at the age of 37.
Why do I like his art:
I like the way he puts emphasis on the color combinations like "there is no blue without a yellow and orange" and emphasizes the beauty of life. His brush stroke is, simply put, genius to me. It's sad and a real tragedy that he couldn't get any recognition for his work during his lifetime. Maybe if he had, he would have had more time to paint...
>> Have you ever seen a Van Gogh painting or exhibition? Do you have any favorite paintings or memories connected to him?
