ART focuses on artists and art movements between the 1850's-1960's. An artist of unusual vision is featured today, Vincent van Gogh, who saw movement in his surroundings and a particulate world, full of energy.
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| Self Portrait with felt Hat, Vincent Van Gogh, c. 1880s |
V = Vincent van Gogh
1853 - 1890
Vincent Willem van Gogh was a post-Impressionist painter of Dutch origin. He came to Paris in March of 1886 to share a Rue Laval apartment in Montmartre with his brother and to study at a local studio. In June, they moved to a larger apartment further uphill at 54 Rue Lepic. This address still exists today and has a small plaque on the building near the front door advising that Vincent and Leo once lived here. In Paris, Vincent painted views of Moulin de la Galette, Montmartre scenes, and locations by the Seine River.
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| Cafe Terrace at Night, 1888 by Van Gogh |
Van Gogh didn't begin painting until his late twenties, completing many of his best works during the last couple of years of his life. In just over ten years, he produced more than 2,100 art works which included 860 oil paintings, 1300 + watercolors, drawings, sketches and prints. There are self-portraits, landscapes, still life paintings , portraits, and paintings of wheat fields and sunflowers. Especially sunflowers. See the painting below by Gauguin showing Van Gogh at work.
After living in Paris for a few years, Vincent moved to the south of France where his work was influenced by the strong sunlight of the region. His palette of colors grew brighter and he developed the style that became his signature, during his stay in Arles in 1888.
After years of painful anxiety and frequent bouts of mental illness, Vincent died at age 37 from a gunshot wound, likely self-inflicted and accepted as such. However, no gun was ever found. At that time, his work was known only to a select group of people.
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The most comprehensive source of information about van Gogh is a collection of letters between him and his younger brother, Theo van Gogh, an art dealer. There were hundreds of letters between 1872 and 1890, with most of the letters sent from Vincent to Theo. He and his brother remained friends throughout their lives.
If you'd like to read more, try the novel, Dear Theo, by Irving Stone. The following in a part from the book description: "Van Gogh's brother Theo was his confidant and companion, and, in his letters to him, van Gogh reveals himself as artist and man. . ."
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Painting sunflowers, Vincent is subject matter for his friend Gauguin. This is prior to their disagreement in Arles, France.
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| Van Gogh Painting Sunflowers by Paul Gauguin |
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Are you a fan of Van Gogh's art? Did you know about the missing ear (or part of it) and the story behind it? Do you have a favorite of Van Gogh's painting?
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Brought to you by the A to Z Blog Challenge 2014 Team and the originator: Lee of Tossing it Out. Click the A to Z list of participants and read on. Hope to see you again throughout the blogfest.
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References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_van_Gogh Wiki on Vincent van Gogh
Article by Henry Samuel in Paris 04 May 2009; Another version of what happened to Vincent's ear. (UK Newspaper)
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Image Credits
Cafe Terrace at Night, 1888 by Van Gogh
This work is in the public domain in the United States, and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or less
The work of art depicted in this image and the reproduction thereof are in the public domain worldwide. The reproduction is part of a collection of reproductions compiled by The Yorck Project. The compilation copyright is held by Zenodot Verlagsgesellschaft mbH and licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License
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Self Portrait of the Artist by Van Gogh
This work is in the public domain in the United States, and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or less.
The official position taken by the Wikimedia Foundation is that "faithful reproductions of two-dimensional public domain works of art are public domain".
This photographic reproduction is therefore also considered to be in the public domain
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Vincent Van Gogh by Paul Gauguin
The work of art depicted in this image and the reproduction thereof are in the public domain worldwide. The reproduction is part of a collection of reproductions compiled by The Yorck Project. The compilation copyright is held by Zenodot Verlagsgesellschaft mbH and licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
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