Vincent Van Gogh

Brief Essay
Vincent Van Gogh ( 1853 1890) was a post-impressionist painter, who is now one
the most well known post impressionist painters that ever lived. Vincent Van Gogh is
originally Dutch, but is well known throughout Britain as he was forced to leave
home to work at the age of 15. He first had a job working in his Uncle Cornelis' art
dealership, Goupil & Cie, a firm of art dealers in The Hague. Vincent Van Gogh was
fluent in French, German and English, as well as Dutch. He then (and this is why he
is so well known in England too) in June of 1879, transferred to the Groupil Gallery
in London, where he fell in love with British culture at that time. He became a lover
of poetry most notably Charles Dickens and George Elliot. Then in 1880, he decided
to move to Brussels and become an artist, his career actually start quite late on
compared to others. He had never had any formal training, unlike other postimpressionist artists. Although his young brother Theo, offered to support him
financially. He began taking lessons on his own, reading books such as Travaux de
champs by Jean-Francois Millet and Cours de dessin by Charles Braque.
Now, most of Gogh's popularity reached it's peak after he died, as people then began
to really appreciate his art. One thing that is most notable about Gogh is his
emotional and mental instability, even those who have not actually ever seen his art
will know about the event in which he cut off his own ear. For Vincent Van Gogh, art
was something that kept him emotionally balanced. In 1885, Van Gogh began to work
on what is considered his first masterpiece, Potato Eaters. In Paris was where Van
Gogh first saw impressionist art, and was inspired by the effects of colour and light
present within the work he saw. He then began studying with Henri de ToulouseLautrec, Pissaro and other artists. He was also influenced by Japanese art and studied
eastern culture and philosophy to enhance his art and life. Then, in February 1888
boarded a train to the south of France. He moved into a little house, and spent his
money on paint rather than food, he lived on coffee, bread and absinthe, which made
he very ill and strange, because of this lifestyle, he gained physical illness, and his
psychological health became weak.

The Old Church Tower at Nuenen

Van Gogh 1884
Oil on Canvas
This is one of Goghs earlier paintings, before he was introduced and discovered the
impressionist movement. The painting seems to be created entirely with colour, with
strokes of paint and blocks of paint being the most prevalent. During his early years,
Goghs main goal through painting was to depict the working class in a way that
seemed natural, un-biased and organic. He primarily used deep, earthy tones, and
colours that resembled dirt. I feel that this gave his work a sense of humbleness that
the working classes would connect with and appreciate. Compared the work below
this one, this painting is radically different in that it follows more classical painting
conventions, such as that the painting should at least attempt to accurately depict it's
subject or location, instead of portraying the artists own preference and style. The
painting show here is much more realistically inclined, compared to his later pieces
that are much brighter and almost fictional in the way the have been painted. I feel
that the change in his work also represents the change in his mental state and the
onset of his mental health issues. The muted colours and realistic depiction represent
his wish to portray things naturally and organically, whereas the colours used in his
later work are much psychedelic and artificial, almost like candy.

The Church at Auvers

Van Gogh 1890
Oil on Canvas
As you can see, there is tremendous difference in the colours used here, this painting
is much less organically inclined and leans more towards idealism and fantasy, the
foreground subjects (church, human figure and fields) are all in bright, candy-like
colours that illuminate themselves, and the background in dark. This gives the
painting an almost eery feel to it. As it is night, but everything is so bright and
imposing. When comparing with the other painting, the influence impressionist art
had on Goghs work is clear to see, as he has used the bright and vivid colors that
would be displayed in impressionist works of art, although this painting clearly has
the opposite effect of the nice, graceful works of shall we say, Monet or Manet. The
graceful feel is replaced by a sense of underlying maliciousness. The elements of
wavy line and vivid colour, almost create an optical illusion, as when you look away
or take your immediate gaze off of the painting, it seems as though it is moving. You
can see in that he has also used the stippling technique most commonly used by
impressionist artists, as the brush strokes are short but opaque. He uses this technique
regularly in his late paintings. I feel that his transition between techniques also
somewhat depicts his weakening mental strength and his health, although he began
using bright colours much before he became unstable.

Summary
As with Paul Cezanne, Vincent Van Gogh is also a great example of how artists can
be inspired, experiment and transition to different styles, and still portray what they
wish to accurately. Vincent Van Gogh is still one of the most well known
Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists throughout history. From his muted tones
at the beginning of his artistic career, to the psychedelic hues to the end of his life,
Vincent Van Goghs work precedes the man himself and will forever by preserved in
art galleries and in history, to warn, and to inspire budding artists for generations to
come. I personally like both styles of his work equally, as they both represent
different point in his life, I like the early paintings because they are graceful, organic
and natural, but I also enjoy looking at his later works because of the vivid hues and
tones, and how whimsical and interesting they are, both paintings are marvellous
examples of good painting technique.