Featured Artist: Vincent Van Gogh

I had no idea who I was going to feature in my first artist profile post until I was inspired by an episode of my favorite show, Doctor Who (a campy yet totally awesome, British, kids', sci-fi show), which featured Vincent Van Gogh in one of the more recent episodes.

Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) is considered to be one of the greats of the Post-Impressionist movement. Post-Impressionists drew much from Impressionism, particularly the use of pure, vivid colours; thick layers of paint; and short, distinctive brushstrokes. However, where Impressionists placed much emphasis on the accurate depiction the effects of light, Post-Impressionists were more interested in using color and distortion to evoke emotion. Also, Post-Impressionism payed greater attention to form and structure than did Impressionism.

During his short career, Van Gogh produced over 800 paintings and more than 1,100 works on paper. He was primarily self-taught, first mastering the art of black and white drawings before working with watercolors and eventually oil painting.

Scheveningen Woman Sewing (1881 Watercolor)

The Potato Eaters was one of his earlier works, and thus has a little different look and feel from some of his later, more well-known pieces. He chose dark colors and plainer figures. As he wrote in one of his letters, "You see, I really have wanted to make it so that people get the idea that these folk, who are eating their potatoes by the light of their little lamp, have tilled the earth themselves with these hands they are putting in the dish, and so it speaks of manual labour and — that they have thus honestly earned their food. I wanted it to give the idea of a wholly different way of life from ours — civilized people."

He created a lithograph in addition to the oil painting, both of which you can see below.

Note how the lithograph print is a mirror image of the actual painting.

His stay in Paris from 1886-1888 gave him exposure to Impressionists and Neo-Impressionists, who had a profound effect on his work. His palette lightened, and he experimented with broken brush strokes and even pointillism, which can be seen in this self portrait:

Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat (1887 Oil on Canvas)

Works such as his series of flowering orchards show the influence of Japanese art on his painting. Van Gogh loved Japanese art and collected prints. Note the stylized way he presents the trees in the below painting.

The Flowering Orchard (1888 Oil on Canvas)

Still, what made Van Goph famous was his use of color to evoke emotion. The use of complimentary colors makes many of his paintings dynamic. See the contrast of the purplish-blue and yellow or the orange and green in the below painting?

Irises (1889 Oil on Canvas)

The last painting I'll include is my favorite and one his best-known works. Not the feeling of agitation in Starry Night. His swirling brush strokes and vibrant palette give the impression that the painting is constantly moving before your eyes. It's an absolutely beautiful and stirring piece.

Starry Night (1889 Oil on Canvas)