Introduction to Vincent Van Gogh
This essay shall be discussing about the works of a world renowned artist Vincent Van Gogh, providing a range of opinions from various angles. The discussion shall begin by briefly introducing the artist. The sections following shall be providing insights about the style he used to enrich the masterpieces he had produced. Three exceptionally beautiful paintings of his shall be discussed at length. A section shall also be dedicated to the critiques that have been directed towards his works, and also how his works shall be introduced to children who are at the pre-school level, keeping in mind their standard of comprehension.
Vincent Van Gogh was naturally gifted to be an artist. In the history of western art, he is associated with the Post-Impressionist period, distinguished for the usage of abstract geometric elements and depiction of human figures combined with application of thick layers of unrealistic shades of colour that goes contrary to the natural ones (Kolbe, 2002).
In this section the analysis shall focus on his artistic creations. His works clearly displays the influences of the legacies of Paul Gauguin. The use of earthy yet vivid shades of colours, a contrasting background of lighter shade compared to the main subject matter of the painting. A generous use of bold colours which are conventionally associated with the capacity to strike the vision with immediate effect, is the sole distinguishing factor that sets Van Gogh’s paintings a class apart from others (Edwards, 2015). Three of his paintings which have earned him immense praise are, ‘The Potato Eaters’, ‘Sunflowers’ and ‘The Starry Nights’.
Figure 1: The Potato Eaters
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‘The Potato Eaters’ was his first masterpiece. It depicts five human figures, four of whom were women folks with only one man in the lot. With an exquisite use of earthy colours he has excellently created the aura of a dimly illuminated room, and the emotions revealed by the individuals can be very well intercepted. This painting is believed to be very Christian in its essence, as the position of the individuals are prayerful, similar to that of reciting the prayers before meals (Park, 2017). It has been critiqued that shapes of the human figures are quite gibberish, and caricaturous, which goes contrary to the how human beings naturally look.
Figure 2: The Sunflowers
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The next painting, as the name suggest, depicts a bunch of sunflowers. The factor of originality is present even in this painting with no effort of including any element of artificial, over-exaggerated, unearthly elements of beauty. The flowers are believed to be an exact pictographical replica of that which adorned a corner of Paul Gauguin’s bedroom. Even the minutest details of the flowers have been captured and that is very much proven by the portrayal of the angular setting of the petals and the varying colour of the cental lobe of the flowers some of which had greenish patches. This painting reflects the deft observation skills of Van Gogh and his love for the wildness of natural beauty which is devoid of any artificiality (Watson, 2017). Though Van Gogh belonged to the Post-Impressionist period, this painting of his however exhibits the essence of Impressionism owing to the bright colours he had used with no distortion of natural features. It can be critiqued on the basis of this painting that Van Gogh was not consistent with regard to the stylistic aspect he wanted to employ is his paintings (Watson, 2017).
Analysis of his artistic style
Figure 3: The Starry Night
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The painting of ‘The Starry Nights’ is however a departure from the element of originality that is exhibited in the previously discussed paintings. It came as a surprise as he was known to be a man who drew only that what he saw. That was not the case for, ‘The Starry Nights’ since the inspiration, the view of Saint Paul de Maseoule from his hospital window, did not resemble exactly the way the avenue originally was visible to the eyes. It was an exceptional painting created with deft strikes of the paint-brush. This painting reflects the utopian bend of imagination of Van Gogh, and that he loved to indulge in the bright aspects of life and lead a happy life without an iota of sadness which engulfed a major portion of his life (Olson, 2014). Nevertheless, even the figment of imagination seemed very original. The positioning of the trees and the movements they made as a result of the river breeze validates that. From the point of view of a critique, the painting is devoid of any repetition, but then it has the element of rhythm in it. The stars have been made unnaturally big and brighter than what they seem in real life (Juneau, 2017).
Van Gogh was fond of using colours in huge proportions in his paintings. The technical term for the technique of painting which he applied is derived from the Italian term called ‘impasto’, meaning the art of making a paste. In one of the letters which he had sent to his brother Theo, Van Gogh had mentioned about the secret behind making a good painting, and that was an insistence on the technique of the usage of more colours and a minimal amount of drawing. However, Van Gogh had never downplayed the importance of drawing in creating a breathtaking piece of painting (Liu, Chan, & Yao, 2016). According to him, drawing was the one and only pre-condition to achieving a mastery over the art of creating paintings. Before an artist is able to make the best use of colours in producing a masterpiece, the art of drawing must be mastered. Paintings were not the only form of art that he created, he also drew. The drawings of Van Gogh are in stark contrast to the paintings which he created. In his drawings he often omitted the application of distractive colours like he used to do in his paintings. The emphasis was more on perfecting the figures, the structuring of the subjects in a representable manner (Liu, Chan, & Yao, 2016). With regard to the colours that were used in his drawings, they were dull and very earthy. Shades like black and sepia were widely used. One of the prime reasons why his drawings came out as the epitome of perfection because he used to practice drawings innumerable times which he considered as only method of perfecting art. This piece of information too can be found in one of the letters which he had sent to his brother Theo, whom he intimated the minutest details of his works and life. Van Gogh’s paintings and drawings are indeed outstanding, however that has not spared him the share of criticism which is a part and parcel of each artist’s career. The opinion in this regard that has been voiced the most is that of the absence of element of repetition in his works which has put his credibility as a good artist at stake. Basing upon that his works have also been viewed as unoriginal and unnatural (Liu, Chan, & Yao, 2016).
Regardless of the criticisms that have been levelled against him, his works have the potential of teaching children the true definition of beauty and aesthetics that is in the preservation of all things in the state they are. Beauty that is fabricated is not beauty at all, as everything is beautiful the way it is. This message can be successfully put across the minds of young children at the pre-school standard to mould their views about beauty with a touch of acceptability and tolerance towards lack of perfection (Roy, Baker & Hamilton, 2015).
Thus to conclude, it can be said that originality is the sole factor that has rendered a touch of perfection to the works of Van Gogh and that is why today there is an entire genre of art dedicated to his name and he deserves that. Future generations have a lot to learn about aesthetics and beauty from his works.
References
Edwards, C. (2015). Van Gogh’s Ghost Paintings: Chapters 1-3.
Juneau, S. (2017). Beyond the stars. NATURE, 1(0197), 0197.
Kolbe, U. (2002). Rapunzel’s Supermarket. All about young children and their art.
Liu, H., Chan, R. H., & Yao, Y. (2016). Geometric tight frame based stylometry for art authentication of van Gogh paintings. Applied And Computational Harmonic Analysis, 41(2), 590-602.
Olson, D. W. (2014). Vincent van Gogh and Starry Skies Over France. In Celestial Sleuth (pp. 35-66). Springer, New York, NY.
Park, Y. (2017). Vincent Van Gogh’s christian faith and how it influenced his life and art (Doctoral dissertation, Dublin City University).
Redirect Notice. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&edata-src=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwi_gbKwtJTdAhUbWX0KHZScAMIQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FThe_Potato_Eaters&psig=AOvVaw0SdFQ1eg1S7ODAYF1h4F3k&ust=153570588275002
Redirect Notice. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&edata-src=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwi_-L2HtZTdAhVQbysKHTsuCvQQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.overstockart.com%2Fpainting%2Fsunflowers%3Foption_id%3D6147%26bc%3D791_1284&psig=AOvVaw2MAHMwx0GJfXfTEjRV2tOY&ust=1535706022836796
Redirect Notice. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&edata-src=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjQh6_atJTdAhVBOisKHZ0GDioQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FThe_Starry_Night&psig=AOvVaw0xGYRC0Q3oe-zHr-oNCJ86&ust=1535705564561787
Roy, D., Baker, W. & Hamilton, A. (2015). Teaching the Arts: Early Childhood and Primary Education (2ndEd). ISBN: 9781107433670 (Chapter 1 & 2)
Watson, S. H. (2017). Van Gogh and the Absence of the Work. Van Gogh among the Philosophers: Painting, Thinking, Being, 233.
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