Starry Starry Night

When Don McLean wrote his famous 1971 song Vincent, he opened with the line “Starry Starry Night”. This was of course a direct reference to the 1889 Van Gogh painting “The Starry Night”. Among the best loved paintings of Van Gogh, “The Starry Night” is today the most searched of his works on the internet and by many considered his greatest accomplishment.

Van Gogh was himself not initially thrilled with the painting. As he wrote to his brother Theo in a letter:
“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.”

However, despite his own initial reservations to the painting, the roaring sky swirling over the quiet village provided plenty of inspiration for others. From Anne Sexton’s poem “The Starry Night” to Giancarlo Scalia’s piano composition “The Starry Night”, the inspiration provided by the painting has been universal and massive.

The original “The Starry Night” can be seen at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. It should inspire a few visits and visitors as well.

Van Gogh in Paris

When discussing the works of Van Gogh, his mastery and very prolific use of colors are often mentioned. Indeed, in works like The Painter on his Way to Work, Sunflowers and Wheat Field with Crows are all examples of Van Gogh paintings using colors to great effect

However, when we look at his earlier works, they are very much dominated by dark earthen hues. Indeed, in works like The Potato Eaters, it is hard to find the characteristic color and feel that made his works famous.

The change in coloring came after Van Gogh went to Paris in early 1886. Upon experiencing the works of the likes of Adolphe Joseph Thomas Monticelli and Paul Cezanne, Van Gogh immediately started to experiment with a much lighter palette. In Paris, Van Gogh also met Monet, Sisley, Degas and Pissarro and got further inspiration in his use of brush and color. Another influence for Van Gogh in Paris was Paul Signac and in style of pointillism. Van Gogh himself experimented with the style and incorporated elements from it into his own trademark painting style. One last important meeting for Van Gogh in Paris was with Paul Gauguin whom he met and befriended

It was through these many inspiring artists and their work that Van Gogh himself opened up his art and style and let himself develop as an artist. Without Paris, Van Gogh might never have found his own light palette, and we might never have experienced the full works of Van Gogh that this development brought with it

From Paris, Van Gogh brought his new-found inspiration and moved to Arles, Saint Remy and finally Auvers-sur-Oise. Most of Van Gogh’s most masterful creations were painted at this time, with his art influenced by Paris and the artists he met there. Without Paris, there could be no Café Terrace at Night, no Starry Night, no The Sower.  Van Gogh indeed found his bright palette in the City of Lights. 

The Red Vineyard

As is well known, Van Gogh did not sell a lot of paintings during his own lifetime. However, at an exhibition in Brussels in 1890, the painting “The Red Vineyard” was sold to collector and impressionist Anna Boch. As such, it must be considered among the most successful paintings for Van Gogh during his own lifetime.

Van Gogh painted “The Red Vineyard” in November of 1888 while he was staying in Arles. The painting featured a heavy use of red and yellow colors to portray the red wines and the power of the sun. The yellow rays of the sun indeed fill up the whole sky and are reflected in the waters of the small pond in the right of the painting as well. The yellow field in the background complements this yellow impression. The brush strokes of the painting are typical Van Gogh, with deep strokes contrasting with each other. We also see that Van Gogh has set an aura around the sun, as we also see in later works like “The Starry Night” around the stars and moon.

“The Red Vineyard” was later sold to Russian collector Sergei Shchukin who also bought “The Night Café” Both were later nationalized and passed on to the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow.  

The early works of Van Gogh

The works of Van Gogh are among other justly famous for the vivid use of color by the artist. Indeed, from his famous Sunflowers to “The Night Café” and Wheatfield with Crows”, the use of strong colors throughout is defining for his work. Yet, if one looks at the early works of Van Gogh were not dominated by such strong colors. Rather, in the period 1883 – 1886 when Van Gogh was just beginning to paint using oil colors, his work was more dominated by dark and somber earthy tones. His main subject in this period was the peasants of the Dutch countryside and the hard life they led. Van Gogh wanted to portray this life and contrast it with the life emerging in the cities. 

The main work of this period is also a good example of Van Gogh paintings during this period. Thus, “The Potato Eaters” from 1885 shows a group of peasants sitting together in the evening having some food. The colors are dark, the people unattractive and the realism of the scene uncanny. The earthy tones of this period of work certainly dominate the painting. The subject focus is on the peasant life and its hardships, as was indeed general for the period.

Van Gogh also produced some other works of note during this period. This includes works life “Still Life with Straw Hat and Pipe” as well as “Skull of a Skeleton with a Burning Cigarette”, both of which we have previously discussed on this blog. They all exemplify the early mastery of Van Gogh, yet as we know now, there was so much more to come.

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.

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.

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.

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.