Van Gogh's Methodical Inspiration
Four friends sent me a link this week to a New York Times article about new research into Vincent Van Gogh's painting techniques. Looking closely at his materials and methods, analysts have found Van Gogh to be "a very methodical artist, which runs counter to the general myth that he was a manic, possibly slightly deranged man who just spontaneously threw paint at the canvas. He was actually someone who knew very well about the properties of the materials he used, how to use them, and also he created very deliberate compositions. In that sense, it's a major insight..."
Hokusai, "36 Views of Mt. Fuji", c. 1820
Van Gogh, "Boats on the Beach of Saintes-Maries", 1888
To that major insight, I'd say, "duh". Even a brief perusal of Van Gogh's famous letters to his brother show the artist to be a methodical and intelligent painter, acutely aware of art history, art theory, and current trends in painting. Looking at his watercolor "Boats on the Beach of Saintes-Maries", we can see Van Gogh's interest in many new ideas circulating in French art in the late 1880's: Japanese Ukiyo-e prints and their flattening of space; the stressing of color shape rather than atmospheric tone; the assertive pairing of complements (in this case, orange and blue) as the basis of a color composition.
As was common with this very methodical artist, Van Gogh experimented with differing mediums and approaches to this subject of boats on a beach.
(Click on images to enlarge)
In another of the artist's series, a drawbridge, with its simple, linear geometry, presented Van Gogh with a perfect motif to explore his interest in both Asian design and color theory. He returned to it over and over, from different angles, with each attempt trying out new color and value combinations.
Van Gogh, "The Langois Bridge at Arles", reed pen and ink, 1888
Van Gogh, "The Langois Bridge at Arles", watercolor, 1888
Van Gogh, "The Langois Bridge at Arles", oil, 1888
Van Gogh, "The Langois Bridge at Arles with Women Washing", oil, 1888
The new research into Van Gogh's work has discovered that some of the red in his paintings has faded, leaving only the more stable colors in the mixes evident.
The famous white blossoming trees pictured in "Orchard in Blossom" were perhaps pink? Maybe Van Gogh used more of the purples and rosy reds that were favorites of his friend (frenemy?) Gauguin?
In contrast to his cool reds (carmine and madder, now known to be notoriously fugitive), Van Gogh's warm reds have weathered the years well, and still hold the intensity of hue that's so important to his way of seeing.
Van Gogh, "The Langois bridge at Arles with Road alongside the Canal", oil, 1888
"Van Gogh", Orchard in Blossom", 1888
Van Gogh, "Self Portrait with Bandaged Ear and Pipe", 1889
Gauguin, "Self Portrait" (detail)
The most startling finding by chemists in Amsterdam as reported this week in the Times is the possible original color, before the reds faded, of the walls in Van Gogh's famous painting of his bedroom at Arles.
Did he intend them to be violet rather than the blue that we see in our mind's eye when we think of Van Gogh's lonely room? Art historians posit that Van Gogh, given his interest in color theory, would have paired the bedstead's yellow with violet, rather than the blue shapes we now see.
I wouldn't argue with chemists over their analysis of a pigment's durability, but I could quibble that the painting, as it stands now, does have a complementary composition, the orange-yellow of the bedstead pairing with blue-violet walls. But I'd need to go to Amsterdam, to see the painting without the distortions of print reproductions and the computer screen, to really argue the point.
Van Gogh, "Vincent's Bedroom in Arles", 1889 (actual colors)
"Vincent's Bedroom at Arles", digital interpretation with cool red pigments included
I'm glad that these public discussions about Vincent Van Gogh are focused on his serious, passionate life work as a visual artist, rather than on the tragedies of his life story. His paintings have become like icons immortalizing a sad, mad saint. In museums, the Van Gogh rooms are always the most crowded, and on the art market his paintings are among the most valuable.
Van Gogh, "Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers"
I'm glad that these public discussions about Vincent Van Gogh are focused on his serious, passionate life work as a visual artist, rather than on the tragedies of his life story. His paintings have become like icons immortalizing a sad, mad saint. In museums, the Van Gogh rooms are always the most crowded, and on the art market his paintings are among the most valuable.
Would Van Gogh be such a famous artist now, whose paintings are worth fortunes, if he hadn't also been such a dramatic failure during his life, with a mythic story of solitary death and popular rebirth that anyone can understand? Yes, I think Van Gogh's work on its own would have lived and been ranked with his Impressionist peers. He would have earned a place in art history if not in the popular imagination for the strength and individuality of his mark, his compositions and color use. His intelligence, sensitivity and love of art shine through in his letters to his brother Theo, and, as experts debate molecules of pigment, we'll give Van Gogh the last word:
"Now, as a painter I will never amount to anything important, I am absolutely sure of it...As an artist you are only a link in a chain, and whatever you find, or whatever you do not find, you can find comfort in it."
Van Gogh, "Starry Night
Click here for a list of Van Gogh's pigments.
Van Gogh's letters are online here.
"Portrait of Dr. Gachet" by Cynthia Saltzman is an interesting discussion of how the market for Van Gogh's paintings increased over time.
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