Vincent Van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh painted over eight hundred paintings in less than ten years. He lived from 1853-1890 only spending the last ten years of his life painting. Gogh’s most frequently used style was impasto, thickly used oil paints on stretched canvases allowing the movement, and texture to be visually seen. Each one of his pieces of work had a rare meaning behind it. People believe after his father's death Gogh’s artistic talents were unbound due to his technique, and talents that changed miraculously. He painted people he knew, things he had seen, and pieces of art that would reflect personal feelings, and emotions. It is critical while admiring Gogh’s art to understand when and where he created it, the style he used, and why he choose to paint
This painting was created in Arles, France where Gogh rented a yellow house. The yellow chair sits vacant in his painting with a pipe and shredded tobacco sitting in crumpled paper resting on the seat of the chair. “The oblique position of the chair frees it from the surroundings and suggests the freedom of the human being in this is rigid geometrical world” (Schapiro 16). The pipe belonged to his father who passed away before the painting was started or finished. “Empty chairs are generally associated with absent or dead persons and that was particularly so in Vincent’s case” (Nagera 129). The seat of the chair is made with a straw that appears to be more tan than yellow while the rest of the chair is made of wood. The colors in this painting are not as restricted as seen in a mass amount of his artwork. There are complementary colors in this painting, the chair painted yellow sitting in front of a blue-green door. The chair is placed in a kitchen in front of a box of onions sitting on the floor, with his name written on the box. The tiles under the chair are roughly battered, with different values of brown. The picture shows the chair appearing to look shabby and jaded . “The whole drama of his father’s death, his attack on Gauguin [who was a close friend to Gogh] and his own future suicide are represented on this canvas” (Nagera 129). Gogh painted this picture with emotion
Gogh painted with oils on a canvas to create this piece. He painted this canvas in June of 1889 in Southern France. Starry Night is a painted view from a Saint-Paul Asylum in Saint-Remy-de-Provence. This view came specifically from Gogh’s bedroom facing East. Starry Night is a priceless masterpiece that continues to show viewers his style of art. The thick strokes made by the paint give the look of ocean waves. The sky, and landscaping seem to be crowded with movement, appearing to be in turbulent motion. From the bottom of the canvas to the top there is a gigantic tree. Being drawn that the branches of the tree are visible, allowing viewers to know the tree was close to his bedroom window. A church in the bottom center part of the canvas is painted a shade of blue with an arch sticking high in the air compared to the other houses and buildings of the little village. “surrounded by halos of radiation light, the stars have an exaggerated, urgent presence, as though each one were a brilliant sun” (Getlein 10). The movement Gogh gave this painting brings nature to life, allowing it to communicate in its own language with every move and stroke of the paint brush. “Van Gogh had become intrigued by the belief that people journeyed to a star after their death, and that there they continued their lives. “Just as we take a train to get to a