There is some speculation that mental illness can be credited with influencing and shaping the movement known as Fauvism. Undisputed documentation that mental illness influenced the Fauves is scarce and quite possibly does not exist. One only has to look then to Vincent van Gogh, whose name comes up frequently when exploring this, to see the connection and how his work may have influenced the Fauvist movement. I found myself fixated with trying to find an irrefutable connection with Fauvism and mental illness. This was not an easy or totally successful endeavor. I drew the most apparent parallels from the discovery that Vincent van Gogh appeared first in almost every search that I conducted.
Van Gogh amassed a huge volume of work in his short career as a Post-Impressionist painter, while battling and suffering from various mental disorders. (Kleiner 372) It is not inconceivable, this being the period before and somewhat overlapping the Fauvist movement, that his work would be capable of having some sway on other works and the artists of that time.
Paul Gauguin, a one-time friend of van Gogh and painter during the Post-Impressionist period, himself suffered some degree of mental anguish and attempted suicide in 1897 after completing, what he believed to be his greatest masterpiece, “Where Do We Come From? What are We? Where Are We Going?” (Urton)
It would seem that the impact that these artists and their works had on Henri Matisse, one of the founders of Fauvism, and Matisse’s own, rumoured bouts of anxiety and depression, could convince many of the influence that mental illness had on this stylistic movement. (Succession)
Van Gogh said of his own work, "Instead of trying to re-order what I see before me, I use colour in a c...
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Succession. The Personal Life of Henri Matisse. 21 September 2009. .
Urton, Robin. Eyecon Art, Art History Pages. 2000-2005. .
Willette, Dr. Jeanne S. M. Art History Unstuffed. 11 January 2011. .
Wolf, Paul L. The Effects of Diseases, Drugs, and Chemicals on the Creativity and Productivity of Famous Sculptors, Classic Painters, Classic Music Composers, and Authors. Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine. November 2005. <>.
Zibas, Christine. Using Color as an Emotional Tool . 18 September 2009. < >.
During Vincent Van Gogh’s childhood years, and even before he was born, impressionism was the most common form of art. Impressionism was a very limiting type of art, with certain colors and scenes one must paint with. A few artists had grown tired of impressionism, however, and wanted to create their own genre of art. These artists, including Paul Gaugin, Vincent Van Gogh, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and Paul Cezanne, hoped to better express themselves by painting ...
Coming from a family greatly involved in art dealing, Vincent van Gogh was destined to have a place in the world of art. Van Gogh’s unique techniques and use of color, which clashed and differed greatly from the masters of the art world of his time, would eventually gain him the recognition as one of the founders of modern art. Van Gogh’s early life was heavily influenced by the role of his father who was a pastor and chose to follow in his footsteps. Although he abandoned the desire to become a pastor, van Gogh remained a spiritual being and was strong in faith. Plagued with a troubled mind and poor health, van Gogh’s life became filled with torment and isolation that would influence his career in later life as an artist. In his late twenties, van Gogh had decided that it was God’s divine plan for him to become a painter. His works would express through thoughtful composition and vibrant color, the emotions that he was unable to manifest in the real world. Van Gogh’s perception of reality and his technique would face harsh criticism and never receive full acceptance from his peers as a serious artist during his brief career. In a collection of correspondence entitled The Letters of a Post-Impressionist, Vincent confirmed these thoughts while writing to his brother Theo, “It irritates me to hear people say that I have no "technique." It is just possible that there is no trace of it, because I hold myself aloof from all painters” (27). His technique would later be marveled and revered by the art world. Vincent van Gogh’s legacy would thrive as it challenged the way the world envisioned modern art through his unique brush strokes and profound use of color as seen in his works The Sower and The Night Café. A brief look into...
In the Enseigne, art is also shown to serve a function that it has always fulfilled in every society founded on class differences. As a luxury commodity it is an index of social status. It marks the distinction between those who have the leisure and wealth to know about art and posses it, and those who do not. In Gersaint’s signboard, art is presented in a context where its social function is openly and self-consciously declared. In summary, Watteau reveals art to be a product of society, nevertheless he refashions past artistic traditions. Other than other contemporary painters however, his relationship to the past is not presented as a revolt, but rather like the appreciative, attentive commentary of a conversational partner.
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.
...ve them of their inspiration and interfere with their creativity. It is a thorny, and relatively new, question, and Jamison merely outlines the controversy without offering an opinion on what should be done to rectify the situation, leaving the door open for further research. Mental illness in artists is a fascinating subject, and Jamison does an excellent job of providing a through portrait of many artists who have grappled with manic-depressive disorder, in addition to exploring how these disorders affect creativity and productivity. Jamison also maintains an awareness of the objections to her attempts to draw a correlation
...ded after his death, it was Artaud that claimed, “No, Van Gogh is not crazy, he was pushed to suicidal despair by a society which rejected his works.” Whether or not Artaud’s theory is correct, Vincent Van Gogh was in fact very ill and his paintings are famous for how lucid they are in illustrating the way his mental illness affected him. Van Gogh’s post-impressionist style is very unique of the late 19th century in France and most of his work was done with impasto technique as a way of expression. It is recognizable that his illness had a larger impact on his paintings’ subject matters than the style they were painted in. Vincent Van Gogh’s fame mostly came after his death, and while his paintings did help him to express himself, they now live on to visually translate the true, unwritten stories of his life and the effects paintings have with a mental illness.
The sun itself is brilliant, dense and opaque, heavy with brush-worked impasto. Van Gogh gives us heat and light as force to express true nature of natural way of production goods. Once again, his paintings consisted of complex brush strokes that would vary in the amounts of paint used. He used colors in order to push emotion onto the audience through contrasting colors and his works often reflected his own mood and surroundings. The Principal of Design is balance; the sun is presented in the center of the painting. Which makes the viewer pay attention to the center of the painting first and then observe other sides of
What drove Vincent Van Gogh, born March 30,1853, to his mental illness and suicide? Could it have been the many things he tried, but failed at in his life? He failed in many different careers, in love, and even his artwork. Van Gogh sold only one painting his entire life. Because of his mental illness, he was considered a crazy person.
The life span of 37 years saw Vincent Willem van Gogh (Vincent) in creating beautiful works he dearly loved. Painting was an avenue, which allowed him to express his inner thoughts or vent his struggles. My decision to research on Vincent’s painting, Starry Night (1889) came with the inspiration from Don Mclean’s Song, Starry Starry Night where his lyrics spoke about Vincent’s life that further intrigued me in writing this paper.
During this time, new technologies impacted every aspect of life, rapidly changing the art world. Post-Impressionist artists learned skills, discipline, and value from the Impressionists before them, as well as the use of light, shadow, and color. However, these artists were more concerned about placing an emphasis on expression, structure, and form. Although they continued to use these learned techniques, they deposed the notion that art had to be represented in its true-life form, and thus moved away from realistic or natural representation. Preferring the more expressive effect that came from within themselves. they explored new techniques, perspectives, and shapes, incorporating their own new ideas into their art, such as placing emphasis on geometric form, or the actual distortion of form (MindEdge) which can be seen Van Gogh’s
The article Artists Mythologies and Media Genius, Madness and Art History (1980) by Griselda Pollock is a forty page essay where Pollock (1980), argues and explains her views on the crucial question, "how art history works" (Pollock, 1980, p.57). She emphasizes that there should be changes to the practice of art history and uses Van Gogh as a major example in her study. Her thesis is to prove that the meaning behind artworks should not be restricted only to the artist who creates it, but also to realize what kind of economical, financial, social situation the artist may have been in to influence the subject that is used. (Pollock, 1980, pg. 57) She explains her views through this thesis and further develops this idea by engaging in scholarly
A 1949 study of 113 German artists, writers, architects, and composers was one of the first to undertake an extensive, in-depth investigation of both artists and their relatives. Although two-thirds of the 113 artists and writers were "psychically normal," there were more suicides and "insane and neurotic" individuals in the artistic group than could be expected in the general population, with the highest rates of psychiatric abnormality found in poets (50%) and musicians (38%). (1) Many other similar tests revealed th...
Creative inspiration - particularly artistic inspiration -- has often been thought to require the sampling of dark "depths" of irrationality while maintaining at least some connection to everyday reality. This dive into underground forces "reminds one of a skin-diver with a breathing tube" wrote Arthur Koestler in his influential book, The act of creation (8).... ... middle of paper ... ...5) Mental Disturbance and Creative Achievement, Biographical study of prominent 20th century figures by Arnold M. Ludwig -- finds high achievers in social, business, and science professions have higher rates of mental disturbance than the population as a whole. Rate of artistic professionals nearly twice as high.
Vincent Van Gogh never gave up his style and insight in his early work compared to his later work. I will discuss the comparison of the Potato Eaters and Starry Night and even though there are obvious differences, the core of his passion and eccentricities can be seen.
Salvador Dali, “Paranoia-Criticism vs. Surrealist Automatism” Salvador Dali’s Art and Writing, 1927-1942: The Metamorphoses of Narcissus trans. Haim Finkelstein (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996), 181-187.