The Church Auvers

One of the more haunting images created by Vincent Van Gogh is The Church Auvers. Painted by Van Gogh during his time in Auvers Sur Oise, it was painted from memory and is part of his “Memories from the North” series.

In the painting, we see the sun shine generously on the area n the front of the painting. Here a road runs and lush green plant life surrounds it. However, as we move closer to the church, the sun disappears. The church and the area around it seem to be in a shade of its own making, as no light is reflected or is able to enter this area. Additionally, the church building itself seems warped, with roof and beams all seemingly non-strait. Behind the church, the sky looks menacing. This is re-enforced by the thick brush strokes of Van Gogh which helps create a sense of movement in the sky above. The road in front of the church also splits into two. This motive of diverging paths was also seen in Wheatfield with Crows, and can probably be said to reflect the choices Van Gogh himself saw himself as facing as his sanity battled for control of his soul.

The depiction of The Church in Auvers also bear vitness to the importance of Van Gogh to the coming expressionist and modern art movements. The church is painted from memory but it is clearly not warped like this on reality. However, Van Gogh chooses to give it a warped appearance with forbidding sky in the background in order to give the viewer a gloomy impression of the place. This direct influencing on of the view, at the cost of authenticity in the depiction, inspired the expressionist movement, just like the choice of color over line further led to modern art.

The Church in Auvers can today be found at the Musee d’Orsay in Paris, France.

Van Gogh and Self Portraits

As an artist, Van Gogh had a number of subjects that he continuously returned to. This includes flowering orchards, flowers, wheat fields, cypresses and self portraits. Of these motives, self portraits stands out as while the other subjects can help us understand the mental state of Van Gogh, the self portraits also help us see Van Gogh’s view of himself. As such, they add another level of enlightenment to our understanding of Van Gogh reproductions.
Van Gogh was very active in the practice of self portraits. In the period between 1886 and 1889, he painted 37 self portraits. Amounting to almost 1 per month in the period, this thus gives us a unique almost biographical insight into the artist’s view of himself in these years.

It is also worth noting that in 1890, when Van Gogh had moved to Auvers-sur-Oise, he did no longer produce any self portraits of himself. This despite the fact that this was his most productive period, with almost a new painting completed every day, he did not produce any self portraits at this point.

Previous Van Gogh self portraits can be divided according to where they were painted. A large part were made in Paris, and especially the early one of these were done in the slightly darker colors the artist featured then. From Arles, we have normal portraits as well as some where the left ear of the artist is covered by a bandage. These are from January 1889, shortly after he cut off part of his ear. The following self portraits from Saint Remy only show the artist facing with the left side of his face visible. He never did a self portrait in Saint Remy that showed his right side, with his damaged ear.

The self portraits of Van Gogh are in themselves very famous. Among them we find Self Portrait Without Beard from 1889, which was sold for USD 71.5 million on auction at Christies in 1998. Self Portrait with Straw Hat and Self Portrait, both from 1887, are also among the most loved self portraits by Van Gogh.

Van Gogh Owns the Sunflower

The Sunflower (Helianthus) has been the subject of many great paintings by famous artists over the decades and with good reason due their magnificent flowering head. Yet Vincent Van Gogh and sunflowers have always been synonymous with each other thought over the years with one of Van Gogh most famous series of paintings devoted to this flower. read the full article of Van Gogh Owns the Sunflower

Van Gogh and the Almond Tree

Van Gogh paintings have a number of motives that he liked to return to at specific times of his career. Among these, we find self portraits, Sunflowers, Cypress Trees, What Fields and flowers.

 

Another series was dedicated to flowering orchards. <strong>Van Gogh painted this series of 14 paintings</strong> when he first arrived in Arles in 1888. Full of optimism and hope for the future, Van Gogh’s depiction of the orchards fully reflected this. He was on his way to found his colony of artists in the beautiful French countryside. This upbeat mindset was reflected in the series of 14 paintings.

 

Almond Tree on Blossom is among these painted by Van Gogh in early 1888. It depicts a single Almond Tree blossoming in the early spring in an orchard outside of Arles. While spring is yet to completely banish the hold of winter on the land, the flowers are blooming and brings new life to the countryside. Van Gogh’s focus here is clearly on the flowers of the tree themselves and the new life they bring. Perhaps he himself shared this sense of re-birth at this time in his own life. Having escaped Paris to start anew in Arles, this was indeed also the artistic rebirth of Van Gogh as he continued to produce some of the most potent works of art ever.

 

The <strong>flowers of the almond trees</strong> are thus a forbearer for the beauty that the summer was yet to bring. Van Gogh reproductions.

Starry Night Over the Rhone

Among the most popular Van Gogh paintings, we find The Starry Night. With its dramatic swirling night sky above a quiet village, it is among the most celebrated paintings by Van Gogh. However, it was not Van Gogh’s first full depiction of the night sky. Rather, in 1888 while staying in Arles he painted Starry Night Over the Rhone, a similar yet quite different depiction of the night sky.

The similarities are clear. We are looked at a star filled night sky over a quiet town. Rich dark blue colors are used to depict the night and the special atmosphere it brings. However, the similarities end here. Because, while The Starry Night is dramatic and in constant motion, the night sky in Starry Night Over the Rhone is quiet and peaceful. Indeed, in this painting we see the peaceful town of Arles on the banks of the Rhone. A couple of lovers is walking on the banks Rhone, while the lights of the city are reflected in the river. Above, the sky is illuminated by numerous stars that twinkle. It is an idyllic and peaceful scene, a place for lovers to go, quite unlike The Starry Night

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The differences in the nature of these two night paintings can be traced back to when they were painted and the mental state of Van Gogh at that time. Starry Night Over the Rhone was painted after Van Gogh had arrived in Arles. He was optimistic and content, using his newfound mastery of colors to depict the beauty he saw around him. The Starry Night, on the other hand, was painted in 1889 while Van Gogh was at the hospital at Saint-Paul-de-Mausole. As such, his mental state was much less stable at this time, his mind much more in turmoil. This state of mind is clearly reflected in the sky of The Starry Night.

Van Gogh himself wrote to his brother Theo about his sketch for Starry Night Over the Rhone:

“Included a small sketch of a 30 square canvas - in short the starry sky painted by night, actually under a gas jet. The sky is aquamarine, the water is royal blue, the ground is mauve. The town is blue and purple. The gas is yellow and the reflections are russet gold descending down to green-bronze. On the aquamarine field of the sky the Great Bear is a sparkling green and pink, whose discreet paleness contrasts with the brutal gold of the gas. Two colorful figurines of lovers in the foreground.”

The original Starry Night Over the Rhone can today be found at the Musee D’Orsay in Paris, France.

Coal Barges (1888)

On this website, we have covered many of the most famous and extraordinary paintings of Vincent Van Gogh. However, Van Gogh’s body of work is extensive and contains numerous extraordinary paintings which show off the skills of this master. Among the less known masterworks are paintings like Coal Barges from 1888. Painted while Van Gogh resided in Arles, it depicts the loading of Coal Barges on the bank of the river in the early morning.

The coloring in the painting is amazing. The way the green and yellow colors mixed with red spread across the sky as the sun rises, and how this light is reflected in the water, makes for a breath taking display. It creates a harmonious whole that boils of optimism and hope, as a new day begins with the firework of nature. It may not be among the most famous Van Gogh paintings, but it is definitely among our favorites!

Painter on His Way to Work

When observing the late master works of Van Gogh e.g. The Starry Night and Wheat Field with Crows, they can be dramatic and slightly threatening in their use of colors. His earliest work, on the other hand, is based mainly on earthen hues and dark colors. There is nothing bright or particular expressive in this. As such, when looking at these paintings from his early and very late career, it can sometimes be hard to understand exactly why he was considered just a master of colors.

However, it takes only a short look at some of his mid-career work to see why this is the case. A great example is “Painter on His Way to Work” which was painted by Van Gogh in July 1888. It depicts a painter carrying his gear towards his chosen subject of the day. He is walking on a cobble road and lush green and yellow fields can be seen behind him. The sun is shining from an almost clear sky and reflects off the cobble stones on his path. It is a beautiful day in the countryside outside of Arles.

Van Gogh’s use of bright and happy colors is extremely clear in this painting. The fields are green and yellow, the sky almost green and the sun reflects off the cobbles, making them golden in the process. The colors are applied vividly and without reserve. This is not color realism in the spirit of Vermeer. Rather, we see the colors used to further emphasize the idyllic nature of the situation, which was a feeling deeply felt by Van Gogh as he was setting out to establish his artistic community in the French countryside. Things are good, Van Gogh is happy and so is this painter on his way to work in this idyllic setting.

While he walks and smiles, this “Painter on His Way to Work” could also reflect on the prudent use of colors and how this would inspire artists for generations to come. Indeed the work of a bold master of colors.

The Night Café

The Night Café is among the most celebrated and famous works of Vincent Van Gogh. It was painted in Arles in1888 and depicts the interior of the Café de la Gareon, 30 Place Lamartine, a place Van Gogh himself spend a lot of time. In fact, in one of the more humorous passages of his letters , he wrote his brother Theo that as owner Ginoux had taken so much of his money, he had in turn told Ginoux that it was about time he took his revenge by painting the café.

The depiction of the Café is rendered in red and green colors with yellow light coming from the gas ceiling lamps on the room. A few patrons can be seen at the different tables and the owner, Ginoux, can be seen in white standing to the right. A half curtailed doorway, supposedly leading to more private quarters, can be seen in the back of the room. Unlike the café depicted in The Café Terrace at Night, this is not an entirely welcoming café. Indeed, Van Gogh himself wrote about this painting:

“I have tried to express the terrible passions of humanity by means of red and green. The room is blood red and dark yellow with a green billiard table in the middle; there are four lemon-yellow lamps with a glow of orange and green. Everywhere there is a clash and contrast of the most alien reds and greens, in the figures of little sleeping hooligans, in the empty dreary room, in violet and blue. The blood-red and the yellow-green of the billiard table, for instance, contrast with the soft tender Louis XV green of the counter, on which there is a rose nosegay. The white clothes of the landlord, watchful in a corner of that furnace, turn lemon-yellow, or pale luminous green.”

The Night Café is considered among Van Gogh’s most esteemed master pieces, even as the artist himself noted it as among his most ugly works. The use of color in the painting is what Van Gogh himself referred to as suggestive color and with its use, he moved away from the neutral observer stance of the impressionists towards the interpreting observation of impressionism.

The Night Café can today be found on display at the art gallery at Yale University.

The Potato Eaters

Van Gogh painted the work “The Potato Eaters” in 1885 while in Nuenen in Holland, you can find reproduction paintings of The Potato Eaters at Art Reproductions. The painting depicts a number of peasants sitting around in the evening eating potatoes in the light of a small lamp. There has been no work done to beautify the scene or light up the mood. Rather, the depiction is thoroughly realistic and in some cases and people depicted are even ugly. This is completely in line with Van Goghs own thinking about this painting. As he wrote about it:

"You see, I really have wanted to make it so that people get the idea that these folk, who are eating their potatoes by the light of their little lamp, have tilled the earth themselves with these hands they are putting in the dish, and so it speaks of manual labour and — that they have thus honestly earned their food. I wanted it to give the idea of a wholly different way of life from ours — civilized people. So I certainly don’t want everyone just to admire it or approve of it without knowing why."
The Potato Eaters divert sharply from later Van Gogh works in its use of colors. The bright and bold use of colors that was to become Van Gogh’s trademark later is thus no apparent in this work.

Today, The Potato Eaters can be found at the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam.

Series of Sunflowers by Van Goh

Van Gogh mostly varied the subjects of his paintings. While he might re-use e.g. the elements of a starry night in a few paintings, the subjects of these paintings were not the same. He did not often repeat or return to a motive. While he did paint himself on numerous occasions, it was at least with different looks and clothes.

However, one motive he did do over and over again. Maybe that is why this one subject has become more tied to Van Gogh Paintings than any other subject. I am of course talking about his Sunflowers. In late 1888 and early 1889, Van Gogh painted two series of Sunflowers. These have later emerged as some of the artists most celebrated work, indeed as some of the most valuable pieces of art in the world. When Christies sold one in 1987 for USD 40 million, it was thus a record sum for a painting at the time.

And it is easy to see the appeal of the Sunflowers by Van Gogh. The colors are bright and appealing, the flowers rich and alive, the artists own touch so deep as to make the Sunflowers almost reach out of the painting towards you. They are pretty to look at but at the same time hide many details that only lend themselves upon closer examination. They are truly masterpieces of the post-impressionist era.

A Portrait of Dr. Gachet

Dr. Paul Gachet was the physician taking care of Vincent van Gogh in the last months of his life. In June of 1890, Van Gogh painted two portraits of Dr. Gachet. The motive of the portraits is identical. The doctor is sitting at a table, leaning heavily on this right arm. He has an expression of slight abandon on his face as he stared into the air. He has a foxglove flower in his hand, a flower from which digitalis can be extracted in order to treat heart disease. This helps identify him as a doctor. In the far background, and hills can be made out.


The coloring of the two versions differs significantly. In the first version, the coloring is sharper, more contrast driven and leaves an impression of melancholy. The second version is more uniform in its coloring, with blue being the dominant color, only really challenged by the red of the table cloth. It also has a more depressed feel to it, a somber loss of purpose.

Previously to executing these paintings, Van Gogh has talked about the kind of portraits he would like to make, about how they had to be with the thought, and the soul of the model in it. Upon completing the first version, Van Gogh wrote to his brother about the painting:

“I've done the portrait of M. Gachet with a melancholy expression, which might well seem like a grimace to those who see it... Sad but gentle, yet clear and intelligent, that is how many portraits ought to be done... There are modern heads that may be looked at for a long time, and that may perhaps be looked back on with longing a hundred years later.”

The first version of Portrait of Dr. Gachet was sold in 1990 for USD 82.5 million. It is currently in a private collection. The second version is currently on display at the Musee d’Orsay in Paris.

About Van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh was a Dutch post impressionist painter who grew up in Holland but later moved to Belgium, France and Arles where he completed some of his most famous works.

Van Gogh's own writing provides us with some insights as to his own personal views towards the paintings. As can be seen, he was not initially overly enthusiastic about the painting. As he wrote to his brother Theo, when he sent it along with some other paintings:

"The first four canvases are studies without the effect of a whole that the others have . . . The olives with white clouds and background of mountains, also the moonrise and the night effect, these are exaggerations from the point of view of arrangement, their lines are warped as that of old wood."

Later in this letter, Van Gogh once more referred to the painting:

"In this entire batch I think nothing at all good save the field of wheat, the mountain, the orchard, the olives with the blue hills and the portrait and the entrance to the Quarry, and the rest says nothing to me, because it lacks individual intention and feeling in the lines.

Where these lines are close and deliberate it begins to be a picture, even if it is exaggerated. That is a little what Bernard and Gauguin feel, they do not ask the correct shape of a tree at all, but they insist absolutely that one can say if the shape is round or square - and my word, they are right, exasperated as they are by certain people's photographic and empty perfection."

Some of his most famous works include Starry Night, Sunflowers, Irises and The Potato Eaters. Although Van Gogh and his art was never appreciated in his time he is now considered one of the greatest painters in art history. This blog is dedicated to the life of Van Gogh and the many Van Gogh Paintings that bring joy to us all.