Tuesday, April 26, 2011

V is for Vincent

Van Gogh has always been one of my favorite artists.  I love that he created his own style and didn't conform to what everyone else was doing.  Notice the stars in these few pictures, so beautiful and amazing!  He placed complementary colors next to each other to make them really stand out.

The Cafe Terrace At NIght

The Starry Night


He used very thick layers of paint and vigorous brushstrokes to form intense patterns and shadows.

Crows Over A Wheat field

Road with the Cypresses

Sunflowers

Van Gogh loved how nature combined the blue of the sky with the yellow of the  fields.  He described it as "a symphony in blue and yellow."

The Potato Eaters

He never spent so many days on a picture as he did on this one.   After painting this piece, he wrote, "I like so much better to paint the eyes of people than to paint cathedrals."  To Van Gogh, the painting of a face was as spiritual as a painting of a church.
Vincent Willem van Gogh
Vincent's father and grandfather were both ministers and he too became a minister. He worked in a very poor mining district, where he too, was very poor.  He drew pictures of the miners and found solace in that.  After two years, he felt he was meant to serve humanity through art.  From then on, he never stopped drawing and painting.

Hope your day is visually stimulating!

9 comments:

  1. Oh Heather, that's also going to be my post for today. He is also one of my favorite artists. I haven't finished to write it yet. Let's see what do you think of my writing.
    Love the way you have written part of his bio.

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  2. Great selection of pictures. I used to have a poster of Starry Night at University, used to impress the ladies.

    regards
    mood

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  3. Awesome post! He is my absolute favorite. Even my credit card has starry night on it LOL :)

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  4. Noemi, I look forward to seeing what you post about him, as well. He is pretty amazing. I am sure I will love what you write, I always do. You're so very sincere and lovely! I think a lot of people immediately think of him cutting off his ear, I wanted to give them something else to think of him.

    Moody, Very nice! I hope it worked out for you. I know it's always a bonus to meet someone who appreciates the arts. :)

    Pixiebaby, That's awesome. His art is very inspiring to me. So beautiful and whimsical at the same time!

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  5. love van gogh. thanks for putting these up =)
    happy v day!

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  6. Ah, Vincent, one of my favorite artists. The Starry Night and Road With The Cypresses so beautiful.

    In the novel I just self-published, there is a comment about one of Vincent van Gogh's paintings, his self-portrait, which utilizes the technique of Pointillism.

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  7. My tastes have always run toward surrealism and hyper-realism, but when it comes to post-Impressionists, Van Gogh tops the list. An excellent selection.

    Oh, and it reminded me of this.

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  8. Now I have Don Mclean's song stuck in my head! Great post.
    Heather

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  9. Hi Tara, me too!

    Gail, that is awesome, I need to check out your book.

    Nate, my tastes are all over the place, although I have to say, I do love surreal and always have. Thanks for sharing!!

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