Van Goghs Cypresses - Article Example

Van Gogh’s Cypresses Today, Vincent Van Gogh is widely regarded as one of the most famous artists of all time. His talent, use of color and heavy use of impasto to help illustrate his vision and emotion regarding his subject has long inspired artists of all types to study his work. He is, perhaps, the most famous post-impressionist, giving birth to the style known as Expressionist thanks to his emotive form of creating images. Most lay-persons in the general community are able to name at least one of his works despite the fact that his paintings command some of the highest prices in the marketplace. Reproductions of his work appear on posters, calendars, mouse pads, and other widespread consumer items. However, it is in directly experiencing his paintings, such as Wheatfield with Cypress, that one is able to gain a sense of his passion and energy. Wheatfield with Cypress is a painting depicting two cypress trees standing in a field of wheat, just as the title suggests. The cypress trees are the two trees to the right-hand edge of the painting and they stand surrounded by small rounded clumps of smaller trees or bushes of considerably less definition. In the center of the field stands another small grouping of two stunted trees, one almost directly behind the other and distinguished only by their slight change in color. The foreground is marked by a verdant green field dotted with tiny red flowers while the background is filled with distant hazy mountains and a characteristic swirling sky full of brilliant blues and white clouds. Whether it was this painting or another one of the series, the artist wrote to his brother and confidant Theo that the trees “are always occupying my thoughts … The tree is as beautiful of line and proportion as an Egyptian obelisk. And the green has a quality of such distinction. It is a splash of black in a sunny landscape, but it is one of the most interesting black notes, and the most difficult to hit off exactly that I can imagine” (cited in Wallace, 1969: 144). His fascination with the trees themselves as well as their contribution to the landscape overall is evident within this painting. Despite the swirling confusion of the clouds presented overhead, the image depicted nevertheless manages to present an ordered, balanced appearance. The field is interrupted by a set of wind-swept green bushes in its center to provide balance and the pair of cypresses stand flame-like in its midst. The small green foothills of the background balance the painting background to the foreground of green field with flowers. Another vividly green bushy area surrounds the two cypress trees, providing a solid base to the narrow triangular trees as well as the first of a flowing succession of horizon lines leading the eye by steps up the height of the trees. This vivid green also works to highlight the black areas of the trees themselves that so fascinated the artist. The meaning of the clouds has been a subject of a great deal of speculation. They illustrate Van Gogh’s character in their swirling depths as he often painted turbulent skies of this nature. It can be argued that the hectic brushstrokes used to create the effects of the sky and clouds in coiling bands of various blues, whites and aquamarines reflect the restless, confused condition of his mind at the time. As they appear over the relatively static nature of the field itself, in which nothing tends to move on its own, the sky illustrates the kind of changefulness nature can display while also imbuing the painting with a palpable sense of energy and activity. Taken in context with the rest of the painting, these clouds become necessary as a means of providing balance and structure to the work, continuing the line of sight and emphasizing the focal point of the trees. At the same time, they serve to heighten the effect of Van Gogh’s use of impasto to emphasize his energy and vision. In this second image of the painting, a much darker depiction in which the cypress trees tend to lose all detail, the heavy strokes of the artist can be discerned to a greater degree. Here, the clouds are definitely churning, turning over and over themselves like the waves of the sea. This is contrasted against the sharply twisting vertical strokes of the trees, which take on the impression of flames and emphasize the outline strokes of the cypresses themselves, which seem like inverse images of a towering inferno. The brush strokes of the grasses are more subdued, but still convey a sense of frenetic energy reminiscent, in context, of the burning energy of coals at the base of the fire. Thus, the ground can be seen in terms of heat and burning energy while the sky rolls over it in waves of cooling harmony. Within the shapes of the painting, one can begin to trace the desolation of spirit that the artist felt throughout much of his life. For example, his deep loneliness can be seen in the importance he placed upon pairing the various elements of the work. There are two cypress trees, two bushes, two fields of green and even two fields of gold. His restless energy can also be seen in the continuously curving lines of bushes, grasses, trees, hills, mountains and clouds. Where this isn’t emphasized through his brushstrokes, as in the sky, or in sharply contrasting colors, such as in the transition from wheat to grassy fields, it is brought out with a heavy darker outline that becomes repeated in better defining the shape of the mountains. Despite his loneliness and his increased concern for his own mental state, his love for the countryside is shown in his continued use of vivid colors and heavy use of yellow. Yellow was a color highly associated with happiness and warmth for Van Gogh as it is for many people particularly in the Western tradition. His heavy use of blue in this scene could be attributed to an overriding sadness or, as is suggested by the analysis of his brushstrokes, as an attempt to cool a burning passion that was driving him slowly mad. However, the painting itself retains a sense of joy and brightness in its prolific use of vivid yellow-greens to depict not only the foreground field but the mid-ground bushes and other foliage. Despite its allusion to flames, the twisting form of the mint green bush in the center of the painting takes on a happy, dancing character with the uplifting backdrop of an emerald green bush standing just behind it rather than the wind-tortured stunted shape it could have been with just a slightly different treatment. A similar warming characteristic enters the painting with the strongly flame-inspired shapes of the cypress trees themselves. The darkness at the heart of the trees serves as the darkest point of the painting, naturally drawing the eye to them. A substitution of red rather than green in these trees would enable the exact same construction to be transferred to a painted fireplace without any discrepancies noticed. This impression is further emphasized by the wisp of white cloud/smoke that curls about the tops of these trees. Yet, because they are not actually flames and are darkened instead of lightened, they do not burn the eye Van Gogh’s expressive means of painting, using bright colors, thick impasto and flowing lines, is immediately identifiable in this painting. In its dark heart, swirling clouds and dangerous flame-like images, the painting seems to suggest a threatening quality that is conveyed to every viewer who sees it. At the same time, the painting is filled with bright and friendly colors reducing the threat and creating appeal. This is assisted by the cooling blue and white waves that fill the sky above the flames, keeping them contained and non-threatening. The paired images discerned throughout the painting also suggest friendliness and reaching out. Viewing this painting, I am reminded of my friends and the idea that everyone has a little sunshine and a little heartache in their lives. The passion and energy displayed in Van Gogh’s paint remind me to have a little patience with friends who seem a little out of sorts. Works Cited National Gallery of Art. (2007). London. Wallace, Robert. (1969). The World of Van Gogh: 1853-1890. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books. Read More