Vincent Van Gogh and Andy Warhol - Essay Example

Compare Artists: Vincent Van Gogh and Andy Warhol Vincent van Gogh and Andy Warhol were both creative figures from different time frames, and both have their own way of expressing their individual artistic passion. Vincent van Gogh was a Dutch and post-impressionist artist, who extended his ideas from the principles of impressionism and created his own manner of “brilliant colors and thick, swirling brushstrokes (“Vincent Van Gogh” 4). Furthermore, his artworks were also an evidence to the impact made by Jean-Francois Millet and Camille Corot on his artistic views (Brooks).

On the other hand, Andy Warhol was charmed to popularity and became one of the significant figures to pop art in the United States, in which he uses manufactured materials (e.g., Campbell soup can) as his source for creating exceptional artworks (Rosenberg; Slowgrove). Despite their individual approaches and influences to art, both have the passion in painting as the primary and fundamental medium in doing their artworks. However, Andy Warhol gained popularity in the art, advertisement, and entertainment industries because of his usage to different mediums in creating artworks, such as filmmaking, carving, sketching, cartooning, and photography (Rosenberg).

In contrast to Vincent van Gogh, he was more on the usage of different methods of painting in order to capture a fleeting result of hue, value, and intensity within his artwork. However, his approach was criticized by other artists because he neglected the importance of outlining the particulars and carried on directly to putting of colors in his paintings (“Vincent Van Gogh”). In addition, Warhol and van Gogh have their similar way of presenting their artworks, but they differ on the techniques being used.

For example, van Gogh’s famous painting is the “Starry Night,” which portrays stars illuminating the city at night. In this artwork, van Gogh painted the lines in a horizontally calm direction, but with a texture that seems to be crude in a manner to present a foreground and background structure for the viewers. Lastly, van Gogh used a balance of color in his “Starry Night” painting, in which he painted the moon and stars with bright yellow and enhancing it with the color combination of blue as the dark background (Chardonnet).

On the other hand, an example of Warhol’s famous painting is “Gold Marilyn Monroe.” In this artwork, Warhol gave emphasis to the face of Marilyn Monroe, as he painted it at the center space of the canvas and leaving the rest of the areas blank. Lastly, Warhol used a light and vivid colors to Monroe’s face in contrast to the single dim colored background for the blank areas and making the center face stand out from the canvas (“Gold Marilyn Monroe”). Although they have a similar way of using vivid colors and contrast to emphasize specific details, van Gogh and Warhol differ to the success that they have achieved along their life course.

For van Gogh, his technique to the use of colors were criticized during his time, and his artworks came known to the world after his tragic death (“Vincent Van Gogh”) while Andy Warhol’s style, somewhat similar to van Gogh, was largely accepted and became famous when he was still alive (Rosenberg; Slowgrove). Regardless of all the differences between Vincent van Gogh and Andy Warhol, both artists deviated from the common and popular movement of their time and had made a major impact and contribution to the world of art.

Works Cited Brooks, David. “Vincent van Gogh: 1853-1890 Biography.” Absinthe Buyers Guide. Absinthe Buyers Guide, n.d. Web. 08 July 2012. . Chardonnet, Natalie. “The Art Principles of Starry Night.” eHow. Demand Media Inc., n.d. Web. 08 July 2012. . “Gold Marilyn Monroe.” Lauren’s Blog. Edublogs, 2011. Web. 08 July 2012. . Rosenberg, Jennifer. “Andy Warhol.” About.com. About.com, n.d. Web. 08 July 2012. . Slowgrove, Jodie Wells. “The Life and Works of Andy Warhol.” Viatouch.

Viatouch, n.d. Web. 08 July 2012. . “Vincent Van Gogh: 1853-1890 Painter.” Art Heritage Program. Art Heritage Program, n.d. Web. 08 July 2012. .