Elementary Academics

1. 11-15-2002 Patsy Riley Sedalia Elementary
Vincent van Gogh
From Sadness to Joy

2. Vincent van Gogh
 1853 –1890
 Dutch
 Post-impressionism
 Influenced by Millet,
Rubens,and
Japanese artists.
 Favorite color- yellow.
 Subjects-nature and
humanity.

3. The Early Years
 Vincent van Gogh was born the son of a
preacher in Holland in 1853. The oldest of
five children, Vincent was especially close
to his brother Theo. His letters to Theo
throughout his life give valuable insight
into his thoughts and feelings.
 When he was 16, Vincent worked in
the art dealership business.

4. Early Influences
Vincent was influenced by the great Dutch
masters of the 17th
century, especially
Rembrandt. Themes of simplicity and
honesty and the moral significance of art
recur in Dutch painting. Rembrandt portrayed
a profound humanity and captured both
drama and tenderness through the interplay
of light and shadow.

5. Vincent’s Humanity
 Vincent worked as a lay preacher in one
of Belgium’s poorest areas. He gave the
miners much of his belongings. He was
influenced by other artists’, poets’, and
sculptors’ protests of the horrible working
conditions there.
 Vincent tried to share the suffering of the
miners but was labeled as mad by others.

6. Art Training
 The Hague School, 1880
 The Academy of Fine Arts, 1885
(Antwerp)
 Cormon Studio, 1886-1888 (Paris)-
Monet, Russell, Rodin, Matisse, Toulouse-
Lautrec
 Arles, France --“Yellow House” artist
colony (House of Friends)

7. Vincent’s Style
 Vincent believed colors should be bright and
intense, full of expressive colors and lively.
 He believed color would continue to sing its
own praise and shine in its own glory.
 Paintings are often chromatic, often bright
greens and yellows (his favorite color).
 These artistic experiments were the basis for
Fauvism and Expressionism of the 20th
century.
 Vincent loved nature and felt plants and trees
should be drawn as if they were human
beings. He also said that “People are the root
of everything.”

8. Vincent’s Dark Days
 Vincent had a difficult adolescence. He felt guilty
because his older brother, also named Vincent, died
at birth. He did not understand why he lived and his
brother did not.
 He often felt restless and even cut off part of his ear
in a fit of rage over a disagreement with artist Gaugin.
 In 1889, Vincent was taken to a hospital in Arles,
suffering from delusions. He was admitted to an
asylum in Saint-Remy where he painted that
countryside. On July 23, 1890, Vincent wrote, “This
misery will never end.” On July 27 he went into the
fields, shot himself and died in two days.

9. Van Gogh’s Influence
Vincent’s works caused a sensation in the
world of art in the early 20th
century. As
Impressionism became increasingly sterile,
Vincent’s fluid shapes and vibrant colors
brought life and soul to art. Expressionism
eventually developed from Vincent’s choice to
express rather than represent subjects.
Vincent’s legacy was a “mediation between
art and life”.

10. Masterpieces
 The Potato Eaters
1885
 Le Tambourin 1887
 Self-Portrait 1889
 The White Orchard
1888
 Portrait of Milliet 1888
 Self-Portrait with
Bandaged Ear 1889
 Vincent’s Bedroom
1889
 Portrait of Joseph
Roulin 1888
 Night Café 1888
 The Sower 1888
 Still Life: Vase with
Fourteen sunflowers
1889

11. Masterpieces
 Road with Cypress
and Star 1889
 Still Life with Irises
1889
 Starry Night 1889
 The Church at Auvers
1890
 Portrait of Doctor
Gachet 1890
 View of Auvers 1890
 Wheat Field with
Crows 1890