In the summer of 1881 Vincent Van Gogh asked for his cousin’s hand in marriage and was turned down. He was very insistent on seeing her and took action on this by holding his hand in a flame and holding up the words “Let me see her for as long as I can keep my hand in the flame” (Wikipedia, Letter 193 from Vincent to Theo, The Hague, May 14, 1882). In 1885 Vincent’s father died (ArtBook: Van Gogh; A profound and tormented genius—his life in paintings, 1998). In December of 1888, Vincent Van Gogh had been living with a fellow artist and friend, Paul Gauguin. They lived in “Yellow House”; the house that Vincent rented and had painted a picture of in September of that year. On the December 23, Van Gogh approached Gauguin with a razor blade and then left Yellow House in a panic and fled to a local brothel. This led Vincent to cut off part of his ear, which he then gave to a prostitute (Wikipedia, Rita Wildegans, 2007). Vincent spent 3 days unconscious in the hospital after that night and was released back home on January 7, 1889 (Jen Green, 2002). In January and February Vincent was at the hospital a lot due to his hallucinations and paranoia. He thought that someone had poisoned him. In March the police closed down his house after a petition was signed by some of the locals and then was admitted into the town hospital in Arles (New World Encyclopedia, 2008). Vincent reported once to his brother Theo that looking at his face in a mirror calmed him. In April, Vincent’s brother Theo got married and Vincent started to feel like a burden on him (Jen Green, 2002). In May 1889, Vincent agreed to go back into hospitalization at the Saint-Remy asylum. He reported during his stay there that painting soothed and healed his spir... ... middle of paper ... ...know the way he was feeling at any point in his life. I don’t know that there were a lot of psychiatrists and therapists around during his time but while researching him, it seemed like he was in touch with at least two doctors in his life that helped him with his psychological issues. So if Vincent Van Gogh were alive today I would still have him talk to doctors or one psychiatrist that he is comfortable with. I don’t know what kinds of treatments were available for someone in the late 1800’s but today I would see if Vincent was interested in taking a combination of mood stabilizers with antidepressants to help his manic episodes and his depressive ones. The textbook says that using these in combination with each other also may “reduce the risk of future depressive episodes, just as they seem to prevent the return of manic episodes” (Comer, 2011 p. 224).
It was completed in 1885, and Van Gogh had only recently started painting. This work of art consisted of five figures sitting around a square table eating potatoes. Although they are sitting in very dark room, expression in the face of figures are clearly visible, revealing their mixed emotions. And, these figures are so intense that you can nearly hear their conversations. This work of art failed to become the painting Van Gogh had hoped to be in his life time. But today, it has reached the great heights in the artistic community and considered Van Gogh’s very first
Lauren Soth is working throughout his entire article to express and prove Van Gogh’s intentions and therefore Van Gogh’s agony as the meaning behind his masterpiece, Starry Night. Soth’s thesis claims the painting was intended to console, but also another attempt at a failed painting “Agony in the Garden” which was meant to be imaginative, but based on conceptual history. At first his thesis seemed too bold, although arguable. By hiding his opinions and focusing on tangible evidence such as a solid visual analysis, powerful biographical details, and letters written by Van Gogh himself, Soth’s seemingly exaggerated opinion transforms into an insightful and well-supported thesis.
“There are no ghosts in the paintings of Van Gogh, no visions, no hallucinations. This is the torrid truth of the sun at two o’clock in the afternoon.” This quote that Antonin Artraud, stated from, Van Gogh, the Man Suicided by Society, explains the way in which Van Gogh approached his artwork. He believed in the dry truth and as a result his work was remarkably straightforward in the messages that he portrayed. While visiting Paris, France this past April, I was fortunate enough to have visited Musée d’Orsay, a museum that contains mostly French art from 1848-1914 and houses a large collection of impressionist and post-impressionist masterpieces and 19th century works from the Louvre [The Oxford Companion to Western Art]. I was also favored in having the opportunity to see the Vincent Van Gogh/Antonin Artaud exhibition, The Man Suicided by Society. The exhibition captured Antonin Artaud’s text about Van Gogh’s, “exceptional lucidity that made lesser minds uncomfortable,” or better known as his mental illness that had a major effect on his artwork [Musee d’Orsay]. In this exhibition, Vincent Van Gogh’s works visually present his life experience having spent 9 years in a mental institution and the way his imbalanced mind played a direct role on the outcome of his artwork. The darkness of Vincent Van Gogh’s illness that had a major impact on his art, was a form of expressionism which led to a collection of works that both told his life story, and later, led to his own suicide.
Vincent Van Gogh (30 M arch 1853 – 29 July 1890) was a Dutch post-impressionist painter. Unpopular at his time but still his own worst critic, he suffered from painful anxiety and mental illness, and died at the age of 37.
References 2, 7, 8- "Vincent Van Gogh- Portrait of an Artist" Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan, pages 7, 85, and 86. Published in 2001.
The more than 700 letters that van Gogh wrote to his brother Théo (published 1911, translated 1958) constitute a remarkably revealing record of the life of an artist and a thorough documentation of his unusually rich output—about 750 paintings and 1600 drawings. The French painter Chaïm Soutine, and the German painters Oskar Kokoschka, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, and Emil Nolde, owe more to van Gogh than to any other single source. In 1973, the Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh, containing over 1000 paintings, sketches, and letters, was opened in Amsterdam.
Van Gogh suffered severe disappointments in the different careers he tried his hand at. He failed as an art dealer and preacher, and as far as he was concerned, h...
...for society to accept his works. Society, as seen in the petition his neighbors signed against his dangerous nature, was scared of Van Gogh. They were afraid of his outbursts, they were afraid of his deep depressions and thoughts. He was not close to anyone with the exception of Theo, and this troubled society. The outcasts (prostitutes) that Van Gogh was enamored with were not so far off from his own self. Many saw him as an outcast and a disruption. Once his troubling soul was no longer a disruption to society, they began to embrace his life and his art. He is now hailed as the greatest Dutch painter besides Rembrandt, and his art is recognized as a treasure. It took 37 years of struggles, misfortunes, drugs, heartbreak, little money, mental illnesses, and support from his brother Theo to push Vincent Van Gogh to the forefront of the greatest artists of all time.
Firstly, van Gogh as the failing peasant. Van Gogh was not always a painter; although many claim he realised his artistic potential early in life , he did not seriously consider devoting his life to it (de Grausen , Eurie ). There is little known information about the artists first fifteen years, yet it is possible to find out the basics: after a few years of education in Holland, he left his studies at the age of 15, and never returned to them. In 1869, he joined a firm of art dealers in The Hague, called Goupil & Cie. (The van Gogh family had been involved in the art world for many years: both Vincent’s uncles, Cornelius and (Vin)Cent were art dealers, as was, of course, Vincent’s brother Theo.
At the age of sixteen, Van Gogh went to go work with his Uncle Vincent, whom he was named after, as an art dealer at the Goupil and Co. This job had branches not only in Europe, but America also. Vincent was assigned the branch in London. There he got his first rejection in love. He fell in love with the daughter of his landlady. Van Gogh thought her feelings would be mutual, though she was not attracted to him. In fact, she was disgusted by him. She was engaged to be married, anyway. Because he was so hurt from this rejection, he took it out on his career. He told the costumers they were buying useless junk and insulted them for that. Van Gogh had to go to Paris and only his uncle's influence allowed him a second chance with the firm. His harsh behavior toward the costumers continued. In 1876, the Goupil's managers had to let him go.
Vincent Van Gogh was born in Holland in 1853 and died in an asylum at saint-Remy in 1890. As his father was a minister he was brought up in very religious and cultured surroundings and was a man of deep religious belief. Van Gogh tried many jobs unsuccessfully and his career as an artist lasted only 10 years from 1880 – 1890. In 1886 Van Gogh moved to Paris to stay with his brother Theo, with whom he had a very close relationship and whose unfailing financial support allowed Van Gogh to devote himself entirely to painting. Theo was an art dealer and through him Vincent met the impressionists Pissarro, Monet and Gauguin. The influences of these men caused him to move away from more formal painting, to experiment with, and develop, new techniques, to lighten the colours he used and to paint in the short brush strokes of the Impressionists. As well as this he was also influenced to paint using tubes, enabling him to paint ‘en plein air’. All things Japanese were very fashionable in Paris at the time and Van Gogh copied the style of Japanese prints in their use of strong outlines and large flat areas of colour, visible in the backgrounds of some of his portraits. Van Gogh moved to Arles in the south of France in February 1888; this was his ‘golden year’. He loved Arles and the bright light which seemed very beautiful to him. While there, Van Gogh lived in ‘The Yellow House’ and later when he invited Gauguin to stay he decorated his room in a series of his famous yellow sunflowers.
In present time, Vincent van Gogh is probably the most widely known and highly appreciated person of postimpressionism. During his brief lifetime, Vincent’s work went almost unknown to this world. His work now hangs in countless museums throughout the world and is considered priceless. His work became an important bridge between the 19th and 20th centuries.
Van Gogh, Vincent. Webexhibits , " Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh Saint-Rémy, c. 2 June 1889." Accessed March 29, 2014. http://www.webexhibits.org/vangogh/letter/20/593.htm.
The incident started when Vincent Van Gogh had a dream to create an artist colony with a friend, Paul Gauguin. They lived together for some time, but the situation between them worsened. The two had fought and Vincent eventually lost control and threatened Paul with a knife and as a result, Paul packed his things and left. Vincent became overwhelmed after the incident and went into depression, which caused him to cut off his ear. The portrait shows him in his calm state after his breakdown and expresses his acceptance of the incident and his feeling of hope by using bright colors and simplified style. The Japanese woodblock print on the wall reveals the origin of the style that he uses. Vincent Van Gogh’s condition caused him to have mood swings that led to his depression and various incidents in his life, leading up until his death. He painted using his unique style and expressed his emotions through the use of
Van Gogh used to collaborate with fellow painter Paul Gauguin (Van Gogh). But things came to a dramatic end in Arles in 1888 (Van Gogh). Which is also the year he had his mental breakdown where he chopped off his ear (Van Gogh). Van Gogh had to be encouraged to start painting, I assume to keep him busy while he was at the asylum Saint-Paul-de-Mausole (Van Gogh).