Vincent van Gogh
In just ten years, Vincent van Gogh painted around 850 pictures – with colour that does not describe but feels.
Life
Born in Zundert in the Netherlands in 1853, he worked as an art dealer, teacher and lay preacher before deciding, at 27, to become a painter. After dark peasant pictures in Nuenen he went to Paris in 1886, where he discovered Impressionism and Japanese prints. In 1888 he moved to Arles in the south of France; after a quarrel with Gauguin he injured his own ear. He sought treatment in Saint-Rémy and kept painting there. He died in Auvers-sur-Oise in 1890. His brother Theo supported him throughout his life.
Style & technique
Van Gogh applied paint thickly and in rhythmic strokes that swirl, flicker and trace forms. Complementary colours – blue and orange, red and green – intensify one another. From Japanese prints he took clear outlines and flat colour. His letters to Theo explain much of this in his own words.
Look closely
- The brushwork: zoom in and you can see every single stroke – and its direction.
- The colour pairs: look for blue next to orange, red next to green.
- The outlines: dark lines around trees and figures, as in a woodcut.
Timeline
- 1853: Born in Zundert.
- 1880: Decides to become an artist.
- 1886: Moves to Paris.
- 1888: Moves to Arles; the “Sunflowers” are painted.
- 1890: Dies in Auvers-sur-Oise.