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The Student News Site of Rock Bridge High School

Bearing News

The Student News Site of Rock Bridge High School

Bearing News

Van Gogh’s art reveals life struggles

A mention of the name “Vincent van Gogh” (1853 – 1890) often leads to the thought that he was the famed artist who cut off his own ear. Repeatedly seen as the epitome of the definition of a “starving artist”, spending money on paint rather than food and occasionally resorting to sipping turpentine and eating paint during desperate times.
Despite his modern-time success van Gogh was largely dismissed during his time. He was seen as dangerous as he roamed the streets of Arles, France. His little popularity showed in having sold only one painting after a decade of experience. His poor health had caught up to him as it became apparent he had been suffering from both physical and mental illness. As a result, famed stories arose of the crazed van Gogh who cut of his own ear and got petitioned out of Arles, committed suicide “for the good of all”.
However, this was also the time he would create his most famous masterpieces including Irises and Starry Night whilst recovering in an asylum in southern France.
In his art, van Gogh is seen to be largely influenced the luminescence of light. Especially evident in daylight paintings such as Wheat Field with Cypresses , his brushstrokes are frenzied, appearing as bursts that have been melted and molded to fit one another. However, van Gogh had also been obsessed with the night, as shown in a letter he wrote to his brother, Theo, “It often seems to me that the night is much more alive and richly colored than the day… night interests me enormously.” Self-discipline is seen in his night time paintings, showing a tamed perspective of van Gogh, despite mental illness.

Art by Vincent van Gogh, Photo courtesy of VanGogh.net
“Wheat Field with Cypresses” by Vincent van Gogh. Photo by VanGogh.net
However, arguably van Gogh’s most famous painting, Starry Night, seems to show van Gogh “letting go” of some of this self-control resulting in a more “interpretive” piece. In a letter from van Gogh to his sister from 1888 he stated his first starry night canvases were inspired through imagery from Walt Whitman poems, “He sees…under the great starlit vault of heaven a something which after all one can only call God – and eternity in its place above the world.” The ambiguity, self-interpretation and mystery behind the Starry Night painting has been said to have drawn large popularity in modern times.
"Starry Night" by Vincent van Gogh. Photo from The Museum of Modern Art
By Vincent van Gogh, Photo by The Museum of Modern Art
People have been drawn to deciphering the meanings of the structures within the painting, such as the massive dark structure to the left of the image being seen as a mountain to a leafy bush depicting a sense of size and isolation. The small village in the lower right has been said to bring viewers the nostalgia of childhood from the cool colors and illuminated windows. Van Gogh himself was infatuated by his own ensemble of hues, writing to his brother, “One of the most beautiful things by the painters of this century has been the painting of Darkness that is still COLOR”.
However, the main attraction of the monumental painting are the blazing stars and crescent moon, each with exaggerated features that bathe in their own luminescence. Heavily reflecting inspiration from the impressionist movement, in which artists would capture images as if someone had only been able to see a glimpse of the original picture and often highlighted the bright and vivid colors of the scene. The scattered stars and swirled skies keep a viewer’s eyes constantly moving about the painting by following the curves and melted smears and strokes, keeping the onlooker engaged and involved with the painting.
Van Gogh, although widely unappreciated during his time, has become a staple in the “Artist Hall of Fame”. Despite his lack of wealth and health care, van Gogh was able to go against all odds during his time at an Asylum at Saint-Remy by creating some of the world’s most treasured paintings including: Irises, Wheat Field with Cypresses, and most notably, Starry Night. The ambiguity and impression from the colors and strokes of his art has captivated many long after van Gogh’s death, including the rising millennials of today. Although he wasn’t disrespected during his lifetime, the world is making up for it today. Hopefully his inspirational works will continue to inspire those for years to come.
By Moy Zhong
What is your favorite Vincent van Gogh painting? Leave a comment below!

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