Van Gogh Museum
Vincent Van Gogh 1857 / 1890
Was a Dutch post-Impressionist painter whose work, notable for its rough beauty, emotional honesty, and bold color, had a far-reaching influence on 20th-century art. After years of painful anxiety and frequent bouts of mental illness, [1][2] he died at the age of 37 from a gunshot wound, generally accepted to be self-inflicted (although no gun was ever found).[3][note 2] His work was then known to only a handful of people and appreciated by fewer still. Van Gogh began to draw as a child, and he continued to draw throughout the years that led up to his decision to become an artist. He did not begin painting until his late twenties, completing many of his best-known works during the last two years of his life. In just over a decade, he produced more than 2,100 artworks, consisting of 860 oil paintings and more than 1,300 watercolors, drawings, sketches and prints. His work included self portraits, landscapes, still lifes of flowers, portraits and paintings of cypresses, wheat fields and sunflowers.
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The Starry Night 1889 Vincent van Gogh Van Gogh's night sky is a field of roiling energy. Below the exploding stars, the village is a place of quiet order. Connecting earth and sky is the flamelike cypress, a tree traditionally associated with graveyards and mourning. But death was not ominous for van Gogh. Style Post-Impressionism Medium Oil on canvas
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Seascape near Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer (June 1888 - 1888) Vincent van Gogh Van Gogh painted this vibrant seascape outdoors. In fast, loose brushstrokes he tried to capture the colour of the sea. He described it as 'a colour like mackerel, in other words, changing — you don't always know if it's green or purple — you don't always know if it's blue — because a second later, its changing reflection has taken on a pink or grey hue.' (See letter to Theo van Gogh, 3/4 June 1888) In the paint layer of this work are grains of sand that got in there during painting in the open-air. . 4
Montmartre: windmills and allotments
(March 1887 - April 1887) Vincent van Gogh
Van Gogh painted the foreground of this view of Montmartre with a fine brush, while the sky in the background he produced with broad brushstrokes. It is one of the works he made during his exploratory trips through Montmartre, which in the 1880s to some extent still retained the character of a village. .
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The hill of Montmartre with stone quarry
(June 1886 - July 1886) Vincent van Gogh This is one of the landscapes Vincent van Gogh painted in 1886 after moving to the Montmartre area of Paris. At the time he often went out onto the then still undeveloped side of the hill of Montmartre. The quarry in the foreground stood on the Rue Caulaincourt. Van Gogh faithfully reproduces the tops of the windmills as he would have seen them from this vantage point, protruding above the top of the hill. .
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The Langlois bridge
(March 1888 - 1888) Vincent van Gogh The bridge at Langlois, near Arles, exerted an extraordinary attraction on Vincent van Gogh. He painted it several times. In this work, he employs the conspicuous diagonal and contours with which he was so familiar from his beloved Japanese prints. This painting is highly discoloured. As can be seen, for example, by the fact that the cables of the bridge have over time become almost invisible. . 7
Montmartre behind the Moulin de la Galette
(March 1888 - 1888) Vincent van Gogh The bridge at Langlois, near Arles, exerted an extraordinary attraction on Vincent van Gogh. He painted it several times. In this work, he employs the conspicuous diagonal and contours with which he was so familiar from his beloved Japanese prints. This painting is highly discoloured. As can be seen, for example, by the fact that the cables of the bridge have over time become almost invisible.
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Montmartre: windmills and allotments
(March 1887 - April 1887) Vincent van Gogh
Van Gogh painted the foreground of this view of Montmartre with a fine brush, while the sky in the background he produced with broad brushstrokes. It is one of the works he made during his exploratory trips through Montmartre, which in the 1880s to some extent still retained the character of a village. .
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Farmhouse in a wheatfield (May 1888 - 1888) Vincent van Gogh
When van Gogh arrived in Arles in the south of France from Paris, he was immediately inspired by the vast landscape. He painted this simple farmhouse in a cornfield there and then, partly in thick brushstrokes and partly using little stipples. .
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The harvest
(June 1888 - 1888) Vincent van Gogh The colours of the southern French countryside in summer dominate this painting: the warm yellowy-gold of the wheat and azure green of the shimmering light. The painting shows the plain of La Crau, outside Arles, with in the distance the Alpilles mountain range. For the foreground Van Gogh used touches of paint in various directions, while for the background he applied more uniform colour patches, thereby creating extra depth. He considered this impressive vista one of his finest works.
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Amsterdam