Lauren+Steinmetz

Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890)

[|Vincent van Gogh] was born in 1853 and died in 1890. "Vincent William van Gogh was born on March 30 in Groot-Zundert, a village in Brabant on the Belgian border. ( letters of van Gogh 1)" Van Gogh suffered from temporal lobe epilepsy and other physical and mental conditions. " In July 1879 Van Gogh decided to become an artist. (letters xxviii)" Although, he did thousands of drawings and paintings he only sold one painting while he was alive. People that Van Gogh was influenced by were his younger brother Theo Van Gogh and his parents. " Many believe that Van Gogh cut off his whole ear, but he really only cut off a small piece of his ear lobe. The person who spent most of her life trying to get Van Gogh's artwork the respect it deserves was Vincent's brother's wife. (Vangoghgallery)" She collected all of his artwork and letters after he died and did what she had to do to so he could get the recognition for his work that he never got while he was alive. Even though it has been over 115 years since Van Gogh's death his artwork still inspires and has a huge impact on many artists today.

"A good picture is equivalent to a good deed." - Vincent Van Gogh



This piece named Starry Night was done in 1889 in an asylum in Saint-Remy-de-Province, France. This not only represents a village at night, but a feeling as if it is a dream. This painting has become one of the most popular paintings ever done by Van Gogh. In a newspaper called The Hartford Courant a curator named Jennifer Gross gives her opinion on this amazing piece. Gross states, “In this work, you have the best of Van Gogh. Why does "The Starry Night" captivate us? Is it because the painting is, somehow, both alive and tranquil? Technically, it's notable for the way Van Gogh's brush strokes "are so engaged”. Yet with all the swirling activity, Van Gough manages to convey tranquility, peace and loneliness all at the same time.” This is what many feel after looking at this incredible painting. Starry Night is painted using oil based paints on a canvas and uses a series of different blues, yellow, and greens. This painting is naturalistic because it is able to capture the feel of a town under the moonlight and the hills off in the distance. Though we see a town at night we also get the dream like swirls in the sky to give it that non-objective abstraction. His work is gesture yet controlled at the same time. This is possible because the entire painting is a bunch of quick lines on the canvas but there is a purpose to each line he creates. Starry Night is an ambiguous pieces because of its’ gestural strokes but it is clear what the painting is which allows for the plasticity to shine through. Van Gogh uses many diagonal and swirly type lines and this helps captures the texture of the houses and a feeling of movement. Van Gogh has a gift of conveying his work brilliantly in color. Especially, in Starry Night he is able to use color to give a dark feeling, but then we look at the night sky and we see a vibrant and imaginative picture. The focus and emphasis on this piece is the sky because of the many different lines and the vibrant colors use to contrast the town below it. When Van Gogh chooses the colors for this piece he definitely captures a great sense of balance. This is true because when he uses a color like blue he will contrast it with an opposite color like yellow. By doing this he is able to keep a great balance between the whimsical sky and the town below. When I look at this painting I see a view from someone looking down at a town and feeling sad because he can’t be a part of that society. This view is of an outsider who looks at society as a dark place, but when they get away from the town they are able to see the beauty of the night sky. I think this because Van Gogh had a very tough life and had many mental and emotional problems, which lead him to suicide. When he paints he is able to capture the beauty of nature and expose it to his audience even if he may feel sadness. Van Gogh continues to be one of the most influential painters who ever lived and his work continues to be the example of great art. This is because he was able to portray his dreams of how beautiful nature can be.

My Interpretation of Vincent van Gogh

**__Title:__ Doggie Dreams**  **__Media:__** **Acrylic Paint** **__Dimensions:__ 18in X 24in Lauren Steinmetz** **2010**  __Sources:__ Matt Eagan. "Once Upon A Starry Night: A Chance To See Van Gogh's Most Celebrated Painting. " //McClatchy - Tribune Business News// 1 June 2008 ProQuest Newsstand, ProQuest. Web. 22 Apr. 2010. Van Gogh, Vincent W. //The Letters of Vincent Van Gogh // . Ed. Ronald De Leeuw. Trans. Arnold Pomerans. London: Allen Lane The Penguin, 1996. Print.

[|Vangoghgallery.com]