Vincent Van Gogh Research Paper

Vincent Van Gogh’s Work of Art

Anh Le

Humanities 1301
Professor Philip Noguere
02 December 2013

Anh Le
Professor Noguere
Humanities 1301
02 December 2013
Vincent Van Gogh’s Work of Art Vincent Van Gogh is a unique and outstanding artist who had a dramatic life that affected his paintings. At the age of twenty-seven, Vincent decided to devote his life for art because “Vincent believed in the power of art. To him, a work of art, whether drawing or painting, had as striking an “effect” as a live sermon or a letter”( Zurcher 17) .Van Gogh started his work of art with drawing. Vincent sent Theo, his brother, some of his drawings such as Au Charbonnage (At the Coalmines), Miner Shouldering
Vincent was affected by the strong sunlight and he became " the prey of the sun" , " he burst out with spring, reached his highest point during summer and discovered July and the flame 's plenitude"(Zurcher 165).At this point of time, his style changed immensely , and it was greately impacted by the work of the Impressionists and Neo- Impressionists. He started to abandon somber palette and experiment with lighter colors such as red, yellow, orange, green, blue. We can easily see this change in his paintings such as The Pear Tree in Blossom, The Anglois Bridge, Boats at Anchor, Market Gardens, The Zouave, A Walk in Arles, The Cafe at Night...etc. Besides, Vincent also developed his own unique style of
His collections of self-portraits place him among the most productive self- portraitists of all time. These portraits not only marked changes in his painting technique but also a reflection of his psychological world. The painting “Self Portrait with Pipe” was painted in 1886, before Vincent moved to Paris. This is the typical kind of Vincent 's earlier painting style, using melancholy colors, which are characteristic of traditional Dutch painting. In 1887, Vincent was trying to use Pointillism for his “Self Portrait”. Pointillism is a painting technique which was created by the artist Georges Seurat. However, Vincent failed at imitating “ Seurat 's patient and analytical approach to the technique” ( The History in Self Portraits). Another self portrait of Vincent Van Gogh is “ Self Portrait with a Gray Felt Hat”. This portrait showed that he reached the peak of his new painting technique. He also applied brush strokes of different contrast colors such as blues, oranges, yellow, white, lilac, sky blue, and green. In June 1888, Vincent was interested in the night of Sainte- Maries in Arles that he decided to paint the beautiful view of the night. It was the " Night Cafe" which Vincent stated in the letter to Theo :" equivalent, though different, of the " Potato Eaters" and “ In my picture of the