Van Gogh Essay, Research Paper

Art! What is Art? Art is the expression of ideas in some sensuous medium. And the ideas, in taking material forms of beauty, make a direct appeal to the emotions through the senses, Thus, the medium of sculpture is solids, the medium of music is sound and the medium of painting is color.” Appreciation of art is the understanding, the awareness, the sensitivity to the work of the artist.”(George, Lauren Kane) Vincent Van Gogh was indeed a brilliant artist. His work influenced and inspired many people. He tried to express his feelings through his paintings. Van Gogh once said, “there is nothing in the world as interesting as people… one can never study them enough.”(Raboff and Peter) Van Gogh often painted people’s expressions, their body language and in fact their actions. He did this for self-fulfillment and to grab the attention of the public. Van Gogh was a natural. He did not go to any art school to learn about painting. Many artists start out by taking art lessons of some kind and proceeded to college and universities. The first time Van Gogh had anything to do with learning about art was when he apprenticed to the international art firm of Goupil, and the reason he did was because his Uncle was a partner. On March 30, 1852 a child was born from Anna and Theodorus Van Gogh, it was a little boy,they named the boy Vincent. “The baby Vincent died a few weeks after his birth.”(Elizabeth, Lawrence Hanson 5) On March 30,1853, exactly a year after the first baby was born, Anna and Theodorus gave birth to another baby boy. His name was Vincent, the same name as the baby who died. Anna and Theodorus although happy with their son could never get over the death of their other son Vincent that died. “The living child was brought up under the shadow of his dead namesake”(Elizabeth, Lawrence Hanson 7) Van Gogh was very gifted as a child. At the age of eight years old he made a modeled clay elephant “which was praised but the family.”(Nagera Humberto M.D. But as Van Gogh grew he became stubborn, rough, bad tempered problem child. “The kind of love, well known to many children, is usually accepted gladly at a moment, for a child like Vincent, longing for assurance and security through love, will snatch at anything that resembles it remotely. With Vincent the harm was done. “Elizabeth, Lawrence Hanson 12) As a young boy he was sent to a boarding school. “His teachers failed completely to discipline his emotional nature and did not therefore develop a critical sense in him.”(Elizabeth, Lawrence Hanson 12) At school Van Gogh was a loner, in fact one day a man asked him to carry a heavy parcel for him but Van Gogh would not he replied”(every man must carry his own load”(Elizabeth, Lawrence Hanson 15) By the end of July,1869 Van Gogh started working in the Goupil Gallery. He was very content working there. He was in the world of art, “a world full of paintings gorgeously framed and temptingly hung. “(Elizabeth, Lawrence Hanson 16) He was encouraged to learn how the business ran, furthermore he was encouraged to acquire knowledge. One may ask, how does a person learn about business? The first thing is to watch and observe how your boss deals with clients. Also ask questions such as, how much do you clear after selling a painting? How much do you have to pay for rent? By asking questions and observing one may learn very fast on how to run a business. Van Gogh showed much promise at the art gallery. “Everyone likes to deal with Vincent said his boss”(Wilkie Kenneth 32) On his spare time Van Gogh would leave early in the morning and “walk along a dusty, country road, careering his box of brushes, his bright colored paints in their tubes, his yellow folder of paper, his easel, the canvas on which he paints and his folding stool.”(Luchner, Laurin and George Kaye) He would then start to paint what ever he felt like at the time. Through out his travels, he was continually painting, what he saw, experienced and his feelings about life. One picture the he drew was “a bridge over the lazy Rhone River.”(Luchner, Laurin and George Kaye 57) Which he used to cross every morning to go to church. The picture was a drawbridge that went up and down so that the boats could go under it. Van Gogh would watch the wagon’s pass over the bridge and paint the horses, wagons and the driver. He also painted some “women washing their clothes in the cool blue waters. Then with one long ribbon of orange paint Van Gogh shows an old boat filled with water as it rests among the spiky river grasses in the foreground. “(Luchner, Laurin and George Kaye) One may ask why does he paint such a scene like that? The bridge and river reminded Van Gogh of Holland where he grew up. In 1880 he moved to Brussels where he worked for a miners wife. He painted the miners, their wives, their children and their homes. Van Gogh did not make much money but he was doing what he loved best. Van Gogh was determined to perfect himself in his drawings. One may ask why does Van Gogh think he is not good at what he does? Because Van Gogh over heard his sister talking to a man who was an art dealer and this art dealer said” He may never be appreciated by the general public…(Elizabeth, Lawrence Hanson 574) Van Gogh would often take walks in the evening and observe the night air, the stares and the atmosphere. One night as he walked in the town he met up with a restaurant owner and said “you know, the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day.”(Luchner, Laurin and George Kaye 364) The restaurant owner asked him what he meant. Van Gogh replied “see the thousands of bright stars in the blue sky. Look at the orange light coming from the windows of the dark, blue black houses standing tall against the sky. Every cobblestone in the street has a little curved shadow and tiny orange light.”(Luchner, Laurin and George Kaye 17) The owner agreed with Van Gogh and went back to work. Van Gogh did in fact paint that little beautiful restaurant with all the images of night.