Vincent Van Gogh - Essay Example

Vincent Van Gogh Introduction Vincent van Gogh opened his eyes on the 30th of March 1853 in Groot-Zundert, Holland. His father’s was Reverend Theodorus van Gogh, and his mother’s name was Anna Cornelia Carbentus. He was the sixth child of his parents, and he was named after his grandfather and dead elder brother. Vincent was a serious, silent and a thoughtful child. The family of Theodorus van Gogh was very religious, and as a matter of fact Theodorus himself was a Protestant minister. Despite Vincent’s inclination with drawing, he spent his early part of the life in studying religion. He was never alienated by religion; rather he wanted to pursue the path of soul healing. As a student of theology he was overwhelmed by the idea of following the footsteps of Christ. However, his mystical approach towards religion made him suffer as a religious contender, because he remained unsuccessful in gaining his graduation in theology. The process of preaching, however, did not stop even until 1880, when he was pulled out of his mission as evangelist from the suburbs of a deserted mining site in Belgium. His removal from the job of missionary came as a blow, but it was a blessing for him in disguise. Even outside the clerical robe, Vincent continued to gain his inspiration from the Bible. Vincent van Gogh is among some of those people in the history who received fame and respect years after their death. He never earned anything from his paintings or sketches, except from his uncle who was an art dealer in Hague. Life of Vincent van Gogh was a life spent in misery; he had to fight poverty all through his life (Stone). He never had the money to hire models for portraits; therefore, most of his paintings depicted natural scenes, or farmers working in the field or self-portraits. The total number of van Gogh’s work is still not known, as he destroyed most of his creations on his own. Records of van Gogh’s life suggest that he had an unbalanced personality, he would lose his control over himself, and one instance he attacked one of his dearests friends, though instead of hurting his friend his own ear got injured. Some records state that he had front lobe epilepsy, mental illness, and would seldom hallucinate. It was 1880 when he decided to take on his passion for art seriously. His career as an artist only lasted for ten years. During this phase he created almost 2100 art pieces, out of which nine hundred were paintings, and the remaining included pencil sketches and drawings. From 1880 till 1889 he spent most of his time in Netherland and France. He followed the zeitgeist of French post impressionism during his stay in Paris, and later on from post impressionism his work shifted towards expressionist art, and some people consider van Gogh among the pioneers of expressionist art. The time he spent in Netherland was in countryside where he became close to the nature, and hardworking life of countrymen (Stone). This association of van Gogh with peasants appeared several times in his work even after he moved to Paris. In Paris he attended Fernand Cormon’s atelier. His stay in Paris illuminated the color scheme of his paintings; however, he always had the inclination towards using red and green colors as they had the capacity to reflect the intensity of human emotions. Post impressionism is a term that is used to define the art movement of late nineteenth century that began in France (Brodskaia). Vincent van Gogh was not French but his painting skills developed in the last four years of his life, out of which he spent most of his time in Paris, where he came across some of the pioneers of post impressionism. His work if considered chronologically became illuminated and sharp with his transfer to Paris (Stone). Post impressionism is about expressing the emotions, the meaning and the thought, unlike the impressionists who focused on light, landscapes and natural beauty as art. The post impressionists used nature and colors for conveying their emotions. Post-impressionists work pertains a symbolic theme that reflected the mental and emotional state of the artist. Structure, shapes and colors were used by these artists for determining the correlations among these features. Later on post-impressionism was divided into two groups; they are Cubanism and Abstract Expressionism. Cubanism is relatively rigid form of art as it focuses on order, shape and geometry. While Abstract Expressionism work was of abstract nature, and van Gogh is considered as the trend setter for this style, which influenced the modern artists of 20th century (Brodskaia). Some people regard van Gogh’s post-impressionist work as natural because of the tough times that he had to face during his life span. He was a tortured soul at the hands of this cruel world; however, in response to the cruelties of this world he offered masterpieces of art as a treat for human imagination. Some of his most famous post-impressionist works include the Potato Eaters, Self Portrait, and Café Terrace on the Place du Forum, Portrait of a Peasant, Starry Night, the Bedroom, and Wheat Field under Threatening Skies. The Potato Eaters is among the first few paintings of van Gogh, he painted this picture while staying in Nuenen, Netherland. The painting was completed in 1885. The picture depicts a dinner table in peasants’ house, where the whole family has gathered up for supper. The picture is quiet gloomy, and the faces of figures in the picture have a slight animal look, which depicts van Gogh’s intention of showing the bestial labor that is carried out by farmers in the field. Moreover, in a letter to his brother he explains his intention of bringing the labor of farmers to a scene. Some people compare this picture with Rembrandt’s work, van Gogh’s predecessor. The next famous painting of van Gogh came during 1887, while he was staying in Paris, at his brother’s place. The painting depicts him, as it is a self-portrait. There are almost 29 self-portraits of van Gogh, this one was painted in the last few years of his life. Usually, van Gogh would discuss his paintings with his brother in their letters, however, during the production of this picture no written record was obtained because he was staying with Theo, his brother. This also happens to be the same time when he was in regular contact with some of the most talented post-impressionist of his era, including Gaugin, Signac and Seurat. Compared to his previous paintings, this portrait of his was relatively more colorful; probably it was the effect of his company or may his inner transformation. The painting “Café Terrace on the Place du Forum” is first among the trilogy of his painting of starlit skies. The other two painting in this trilogy include the Starry Night over the Rhone, and his masterpiece the Starry Night. In a communication with Sister Wil, van Gogh expresses his vision about the scene that observed from the terrace of the café, he discusses how light from different sources like lantern and stars illuminate the street and the different shades that he observed in the street due the luminescence caused by these light emitting bodies. Some suggest that this painting by van Gogh was impressed by Anqueitin’s Avenue de Clinche. The Portrait of a Peasant was completed in 1888; the picture resembled his previous work from his stay at Nuenen. Common laborer always remained a great source of inspiration van Gogh. This is probably because he could understand the sufferings that a poor man had to face in this life. Moreover, this picture is considered as the last realistic portrait of a peasant in the Western art. Another relationship that people usually draw from this portrait is the inspiration that van Gogh attained from studying Jean Fransois. Further, while discussing this picture with his brother he mentioned that he was returning from the impressionist phase to his old imagination that was obsessed with country life (Stone). The year 1988 proved to be quiet productive for van Gogh as he painted some of his classic masterpieces in this very year. The Bedroom is his reported as his first oil on canvas painting. The picture is quiet vibrant. Vincent van Gogh wrote no less than thirteen letters to his brother in succession to explain his views about his picture. The Bedroom was among van Gogh’s personal favorites. Vincent van Gogh completed his trilogy of starlit skies with the Starry Night, this picture is amongst his highest rated works. Some people suggest that this picture defines van Gogh’s style completely. Ironically this picture was produced by the artist while his stay in the asylum. It is hard to conceive that man with such skills and creativity is bound in a prison where mentally ill personnel are treated. Another, master piece that Vincent produced a few months before his death is “Wheat Field under Threatening Skies”, some people created a myth out of this picture saying that this was van Gogh’s last painting, however, this is not true. On the contrary the picture does contain the element of sorrow, loneliness and turmoil. Linking this painting with van Gogh’s suicide is inevitable while analyzing his paintings chronologically, there is definitely some message left by van Gogh in this painting that shows skies, and his favorite scene of countryside yet depicting loneliness and turmoil. Artists have expressive personality, they find ways to communicate with world, and van Gogh was no exception. His paintings and sketches expressed his personality. Apart from using colors and canvas, van Gogh had exceptional writing skills. During his short span of life he wrote almost 800 letters. Today these letters are treated as gems of communication. Most of these letters were addressed to his elder brother, who was also his closest companion Theo. The role of Theo in van Gogh’s life cannot be overlooked; it was Theo’s money that made the artist survive the harsh days of his poverty (Lubin). Moreover, it was Theo who brought van Gogh to Paris. Theo died six months after his brother’s death, and both of them are buried in Auvers, France. Further, after the death of van Gogh, it was actually Theo’s wife who spent her life in gaining recognition for his dead brother in law. It took her eleven years to gain fame for the dead artists work (Lubin). The mental state of van Gogh has been under the scrutiny of psychologists and psychiatrists for past so many years. Several attempts have been made in deciphering the creative madness of Vincent van Gogh. According to some psychoanalysts van Gogh’s fury and mental illness was due to his troubled childhood and early adulthood (Lubin). They suggest that his relationship with his mother was not at ease, there was continuous struggle of van Gogh’s part to gain his mother’s attention, but he failed to gain it (Lubin). Moreover, his early adulthood was occupied by theology, and during this time he also lost the girl that he wanted to marry. Psychologists try to correlate this phase of his life with his anger and madness. Some critics suggest that it was his painful life that worked as furnace of excellence, but others argue that it ruined a talented, God gifted person (Lubin). There are not enough words to compile the services that van Gogh did for the sake of art. However, one feels pity while considering the end that this creative mind had to face. Moreover, today Vincent van Gogh’s paintings worth several million dollars, but they never earned him a single piece of bread in his lifetime. The works of van Gogh are wealthy treasure of art, though he lived for only 37 years, but he offered a treasure of knowledge and crafts that will never be forgotten till art is practiced. References Brodskaia, Nathalia. Post Impressionism. New York: Parkstone Press, 2010. Lubin, J. Albert. Stranger on the Earth: A Psychological Biography of Vincent Van Gogh. Da Capo Press, 1996. print. Stone, Irving. Lust for Life. Penguin, 1984. Print. Read More