Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) - one of the most famous artists in the history of Western art. He sought to convey his emotional and spiritual state in each of the works. Although he sold only one painting in his entire life, now he can be called one of the most popular artists of all time.
Role in art
His canvases with dense, visible strokes made in a bright palette emphasize the expression of the artist’s personality, embodied in the paint. All the paintings, including the landscapes of van Gogh, give a direct idea of how the artist saw each scene, interpreting it with his eyes, mind and heart. This radically distinctive, evocative style continues to influence artists throughout the twentieth century and to this day.
Artist career
The disease overtook the artist at the age of 27 years. He never took professional painting lessons. Van Gogh met the impressionists in Paris, who greatly influenced his work. He spent about 5 years studying his craft. Not many of these early works have survived. Almost all of what he created and what remained of the next generations was painted in the last 5 years of his life. Being in severe depression, the artist committed suicide. He died, having lived only 37 years old.
First landscapes
Van Gogh began to paint scenes from the life of Paris in 1886. The following year, in the spring of 1887, he begins to create canvases using much brighter tones and quick brushstrokes. That spring, he stayed with a friend and artist, Emil Bernard, who, along with other pointillist and impressionist artists, had a great influence on van Gogh. This is well traced by changes in the artist's paintings. Van Gogh continued to paint landscapes in Agnier, a suburb of Paris, putting special vitality into them. Scenes in the park, views of the River Seine and new plants were painted in the spring with other artists such as Bernard and Paul Signac.
Many paintings, in particular some seascapes, van Gogh painted in the technique of impasto, which, however, was different from the same used by the impressionists, due to greater expressiveness and energy. An example of this technique is the “Seascape at Sainte Marie” (1888).
Theme
One of the themes in van Gogh's landscapes was the growth of industrialism and its impact on the countryside. For the artist, peasant life and the life of a farmer were considered perhaps the most correct form of life. From the very beginning of his adult life, he was interested in working people. He portrayed them throughout his career, including in landscape paintings. For van Gogh, landscapes are images of natural surroundings. They symbolize the celebration of nature and those who work and live in it.
While in different cities, the artist depicted them in urban landscapes. Van Gogh painted Amsterdam, Antwerp, Paris, Anyer, Arles.
Motives of nature
The artist painted his first wheat field in 1885. It was the picture “Wheat Sheaves in the Field”, and since 1888 this theme became the main one for him. Since then, Vincent has painted wheat fields, wherever he is in France. In Arles, where he lived with Gauguin, van Gogh painted fields and farms. The painting “Farm in a Wheat Field” depicts a tree growing in a wheat field, before harvesting. In the distance, a modest white house with a yellow roof illuminated by the bright sun can be seen.
While in a psychiatric hospital in Saint-Remy, Vincent painted twelve paintings depicting a field of wheat, which was visible to him from the window.
Van Gogh's landscapes, demonstrating a growing industrial society, can be seen as a warning showing what France was losing at the time. Vincent knew well the social significance of agriculture. As a metaphor for life, wheat and agriculture show a life cycle; it grows, procures, and supports another life. Van Gogh painted all these stages.
In 1888, the artist lived in Arles. Many landscapes of van Gogh were created here, he often painted local residents. Arles is located along the mouth of the Rhone, and this river has become an ideal place for drawing. “Starry Night over the Rhone” shows the city at night, illuminated by bright yellow lights, with a dark blue night sky on top, which depicts the Big Dipper. A year later, in Saint-Remy, he painted another night scene with similar elements. In Starry Night, he shows another night scene, this time the city is depicted in the distance. Van Gogh's Starry Night is a dramatic night scene with thick brushstrokes of the night sky and clouds swirling around bright yellow stars contrasting with the rich blue sky.
While the artist himself said that he did not see himself as a landscape painter, nature was often the subject of his work. He often included in the paintings figures that distinguish his work from traditional landscapes, but the overall effect is very similar. The landscapes of van Gogh were directly related to his thoughts about life and death. Like wheat fields, van Gogh used the theme of cypress and olive trees to show life cycles, as well as harvesting and death. He was characterized by a keen understanding of people and the importance of people's relations with nature. His landscapes demonstrate these interconnections.