Vincent Van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh is a self-taught Dutch artist. ­­He gained his painting skill mostly by copying prints and studying 19^th century drawings manuals and lesson books such as; ‘Charles Bargue’s Exercises au fusain and cours de dessin’.

At first he felt that it was more necessary to master black and white before colour. He first concentrated on learning figure drawings and rendering landscapes in the correct perspective. In 1882, Van Gogh executed his first independent works in water colour and moved to oil painting.

Van Gogh was staying in Paris from February 1886 – February 1888. There, he saw the work of the Impressionists and also witnessed works by the Neo-Impressionists George Seurat and Paul Signac. He was very much influenced by their work. Therefore, Van Gogh lightened his palette, and experimented with broken brush strokes of the Impressionists and also the pointillist touch of the Neo-Impressionists.   

I think that this is a great example of how Van Gogh was influenced by the Impressionists. In the ‘Ploughed Field’ you can see that the artist used a lighter palette than his earlier work. In his painting you can also see rough brush strokes which are also seen in Claude Monet’s work ‘Impression Sunrise’.

Van Gogh, 1888. Ploughed Field [oil]  

Claude Monet, 1872. Impression Sunrise [oil], Musee Marmottan Monet, Paris

As I said earlier, Vincent Van Gogh gained his skill by copying prints.

The one on the left is a Japanese print by Utagawa Hiroshige Ohashi Bridge, Sudden Shower at Atake. The one on the right is Van Gogh’s interpretation. One can clearly see that the Japanese prints’ influences are also in Van Gogh’s work such as; the bold blocks of colours, and diagonal lines.

References:

Department of European Paintings, 2010. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. [online] Available at: <http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/gogh/hd_gogh.htm> [Accessed 22 March 2014].  

John Fitzsmmons, 2014. The Painter’s Keys. [online] Available at: <http://clicks.robertgenn.com/japanese-prints.php> [Accessed 22 March 2014].