Vincent Van Gogh

How Vincent Van Gogh Changed The Art World

Even though Vincent van Gogh passed away almost 120 years ago,

his artwork is still having a significant impact on how people perceive

beauty, persona, originality, and style in artistic expression. His 

paintings and sketches each feature a unique combination

of traits that have been imitated by countless but never reproduced.

The extraordinary journey that was Van Gogh's life has sparked creative

endeavors in countless individuals. In fact, his influence was primarily

responsible for the development of what many people in the modern era believe

to be the prototypical "artist persona." The fact that painters have continued to

imitate Van Gogh's style even after it has been almost a century since he established

it is maybe the most amazing element.

After moving to Paris in 1886, Vincent was profoundly impacted by the artists of the impressionist and post-impressionist movements that were active during that time.

The dark, subdued color scheme that Van Gogh had been using before was largely eclipsed

by the brilliant new palette. Not only did Van Gogh's vision of the new impressionist

and post-impressionist style transform his own work, but it also transformed the entirety of art history.

During his lifetime, Vincent van Gogh became one of the post-impressionists while also being regarded as one of the finest artists since Rembrandt van Rijn. During his whole career as a painter, he only managed to sell one of his pieces, but by the turn of the century, he became the most revered figure in the art world.

While he was living in Toulouse, he became acquainted with other artists working in Paris, such as Henri de Lautrec, and began to paint in a more vibrant style as a result. He fell in love with Impressionist painters like Claude Monet during this time. This is also where he developed the characteristic brushwork that is associated with him.

In addition to Starry Night and Sunflowers, one of his most well-known works is titled The Bedroom at Arles. Painting using colors that were expressive and emotive as well as brushwork that was distinctive gave his style a significant amount of cultural influence. This was especially true in terms of Expressionism, Fauvism, and early abstract painting styles. In a span of ten years, he produced over 900 paintings.

He was residing in Paris in 1886 when he became heavily affected by Impressionists and neo-impressionists, and as a result, he transitioned straight into this style of painting. He started employing lighter tones in his paintings after finding inspiration in the broken brush strokes and palette of the Impressionists, which consisted of yellow, red, orange, green, and blue.

The colors that Van Gogh used created the magnificent collection of yellow sunflower paintings that he was known for during the height of his renown to progressively fade into a dismal olive-brown tone. This was discovered by researchers who were studying Van Gogh. His initial works were characterized by a Dutch palette that was more subdued, whereas his later works tried to convey feeling through the use of vibrant colors.

He was quiet devout, and at one point in his life he worked as a missionary in Belgium, among a group of miners. He had originally planned on becoming a priest, as his dad was a minister. He started drawing landscapes and portraits of the people who lived around him after becoming mesmerized by the straightforward and unpretentious way of life that they led in the countryside. It wasn't long before art became his raison d'être in life.

Soon after he began his career as an artist, it became clear that the aesthetic he favored did not meet the standards that were prevalent during that era. He was doing a lot of traveling at the time because he was looking for a place where he was welcomed, the place where he could create work that would be appreciated. He had a lot of restlessness and never seemed to feel fulfilled. 

In the year 1888, he spent some time in Arles, which is located in France. There, he and another painter named Paul Gauguin attempted to establish something resembling an artistic colony. This colony was supposed to be a utopian sort of community, where artists could paint in the fields, share their ideas, and inspire one another. But the plan was unsuccessful, and van Gogh and Gauguin came into dispute as a result. That point in his life, when he felt he had finally found a place where he was understood, but then he lost it, reawakened a madness that had always been dormant somewhere within of him.

He was drinking too much, sleeping with prostitutes (his mental problem was the cause of his STD’s), and generally he was always trying to escape from his own solitude, and he was drowning his feelings in alcohol. He was showing signs of mental problems earlier in his life. In the end, after the incident in Arles, he cut off his own ear (when Van Gogh painted, he would place the brush on his tongue, and back then, people didn't know about the dangers of lead poisoning), and, he was routinely admitted to psychiatric hospitals. This was the beginning of his downward spiral into madness. In a short amount of time, his brother too died as a result of STD’s. The relationship that they shared was irreplaceable; in addition, he could always count on his brother for financial assistance, for which he was quite thankful.

Van Gogh altered the way we perceive 19th century oil paintings, and he kept a log of his entire creative process by writing letters to his brother. After his death, his brother's wife brought all the artwork to art shows and left a legacy for Van Gogh. She had a newborn child at the time, so she needed money to survive as a widow. her son was also named Vincent and that made Van Gogh very happy when he found out during a visit to his brother’s house.  Vincent Van Gogh legacy will always carry on and his love for art will inspire us all to follow our dreams.

Written By Nouriel Gino Yazdinian