Vincent+Van Gogh

=Vincent Van Gogh= =Alex Skorupan and Ella Gordon=

Starry Night
[|Starry Night] ====First Impression: This painting, Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh, looks as if he is looking over a quiet town during the night. He seems alone and relaxed. The bright yellow stars light up the dark town below. The sky looks as if it's painted with swirls. The cool colors give off the vibe of peacefulness and calmness. The town is engulfed by the dark towering mountains that surround it. On the left side of the painting there is a big black figure. What could this be? Maybe a symbol for darkness or quietness? The big star in the top right corner looks as if it is as big as the sun. Could this be symbolizing light among a dark place?====

====Second Impression: After researching the life of Vinent Van Gogh, we learned Vincent was very depressed and felt isolated during his life of being an artist. The picture shows him being outside or more of an outcast of the town. It looks like he was feeling lonely and sad. The big black figure on the left of page is a burnt cypress tree that contains the meaning of sadness and darkness or death. The small church in the middle bottom of the page is a symbol of his desire to once be a priest or involving greatly in a church. The overall meaning of isolation and darkness is greatly displayed in this work of art.====

Bedroom in Arles
[|Bedroom in Arles] ====First Impression: This painting looks as if Van Gogh is painting a portrait of his own room. The room looks simple and personal. Could he be painting his room because of the excessive time he could have spent in it? Judging by the title, we know that Arles is a city in France, so could he live in France, or be staying there? The bed in this room looks big in comparison to the table and chairs. The pictures on the wall could show many memories or personal memorabilia. The room consists of different shades of blue and green, and a hint of red. Is there any importance in this particular room or was it more of a free paint?====

====Second Impression: After researching the life of Vincent Van Gogh we learned that he once lived in the city of Arles so we now know this must of been the bedroom he stayed in while he was in Arles. He rented a home in Arles and decorated so it could be used for a gathering place for other artist. We think he decorated the home with paintings he did and other personal items. On the walls of the bedroom it looks like he placed his works of art. But while he was in Arles, he did get in the incident with him and Gauguin, where he ended up cutting off a piece of his ear. So maybe Arles was not the best place and time in his life.====

The Red Vineyard
[|The Red Vineyard] ====First Impression: As we took a first glance at this work of art, we assumed the people working in the fields were slaves or poor people working for higher class men. Judging from the title of this painting we believe they could be picking grapes in the vineyard. The sun setting in the background shows they could have been working all day. Do the colors of their clothing portray that they are unhappy and tired? The red plants stand out among the rest of the picture. Does this mean the plants mean something special? Also they would he paint people working? Could he have done that job or maybe a close friend or family member? Also what is the yellow house in the background?====

====Second Impression: While Van Gogh lived in the city of Arles, he did some of his best work. In Arles he lived in a yellow house, which we assume is the house in the background of the picture because it's also yellow and he lived near a vineyard. One day when he was taking a walk near his house, he saw this vineyard and the people wokring on it so he painted what he saw. The wine plantation or vineyard must had a mixture of warm and cool color that Van Gogh portraied in this painting. Arles is where is life really started to take a turn and we believe he explained that in his paintings by using warm and cool colors.====

Portrait of Dr.Gachet
[|Portrait of Dr.Gachet] ====First Impression: Van Gogh must have been painting a special person in his life. From the title we can infer that the man is a doctor. Could he be Vincent's health doctor or maybe a mental doctor? The expression on his face looks as if he is worried or confused. It looks as if he is holding a lavender plant. Could this be a type of medicine or helpful remedy? The bright red table stands out from the rest of the painting which is colored in cool blues. We wonder if he painted this is show a special person or memory in his life.====

====Second Impression: During his time as an artist, he went through states of mental disturbance. Dr. Gachet, who is pictured above, was a doctor who helped Vincent in his final months. Dr. Gachet must of been important and special to Van Gogh, which is why he painted a portrait of him. The purple herb that the doctor is holding is a medicine or treatment for heart complaints Van Gogh was making to the doctor. The worried look on his face shows that he did not see improvement in Vincent's mental state. Dr. Gachet tried to help and support Van Gogh in his final months of his life.====

=Still Life: Vase with Twelve Sunflowers= [|Still Life: Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers] ====First Impression: Van Gogh must have had a special connection or love of nature. With 2 of the past 4 paintings we looked at, they also had flowers or nature. Did he spend lots of time outside and with nature? In this vase of flowers it looks as if there are different kinds. Does this mean something deep like that people are all different? Also some of the flowers look as if they are dying. Could this mean something? The bright flowers appear bigger and more vibrant compared to the light yellow background. Why did he draw the flowers and were they special?====

====Second Impression: Nature was very important to Van Gogh and that was shown through his paintings. He painted the canvas while he was living in Arles feeling isolated and depressed. The scenery and nature in Arles is beautiful, so I feel he painted these to brighten his day.====

Van Gogh Life Research
====Vincent Van Gogh was born on March 30,1853 in the city of Zundert, The Netherlands. As the oldest among 6 siblings, he was quiet and independent. He was brought into he art world by art dealing and selling. After realizing his such dislike of the job, he moved to different jobs, that ended up failing. He went on to studying religion and becoming a preacher but that did not work out in the end. After a life of fails and let downs we started his art career in 1880. He went to study art in Brussels then moved to The Hague to learn and work with Anton Mauve, a dutch painter. There, he learned how to use oil paints in his art. He then seeked to be alone with nature, which took him to Dutch villages, where he could live a more basic life. Feeling isolation and to much loneliness he went to Belgium and enrolled in the academy there. Vincent was not pleased with the strictness of the school so he moved to paris to explore more art styles and types. Paris is where Van Gogh really formed his style of expressionism, color and not traditional painting. He was soon tired of the city life, which lead him to Arles, which is a city in southern France. In Arles, Vincent rented and decorated a house which he hoped could be a home or gathering place for "impressionists in the south". The painter by the name of Gauguin joined him but their friendship soon took a wrong turn. They got an a fight with lead to Van Gogh cutting off a part of his own left ear. After the incident Gauguin left and Vincent was put in the hospital for his mental disturbance. With more and more problems occurring he was sent to an asylum. After a year of isolation in the Asylum, they moved him into a home of a physician-artist for 2 months but his state of metal health did not improve. On July 27,1890, Vincent Van Gogh shot himself and died 2 days later.====

====Besides his complicated mental conditions, he really was a truly amazing artist and person. His beautiful paintings were done with such talent and meaning. His style of expressionism shows emotions and the feelings that were being stored up in him. Although he might have only sold one painting during his life time, he is truly one of the greatest artist's of all time.====

If you had one thing to share about your artist, what is the most important thing people to know about the artist and or artwork?
====A major important thing to know about Vincent Van Gogh is that he was severely depressed. In almost all of his works, he uses a palette of cool colors. In some paintings, he uses an item to symbolize darkness or isolation. Only one of his works of art sold while he was alive, because no wealthy people wanted to buy a portrait of something reminding them of death, or sadness. Van Gogh moved several times, never being satisfied with where he was. After getting into an argument with a friend, he cut off a small section of his ear. At only 37 years old, he shot himself.====

What would someone in the future say about your artist/the artwork?
====Someone in the future would ask, why is almost every painting so dark? They may know that he was severely depressed during his time as a painter, but they may wonder if there were any times where he was happy and full of joy. If he was ever happy, why didn't he show it in some of his paintings, or even a portrait? The paintings looks dark but also deep. Like it has a meaning to it. Also why was he depressed and isolated? ====

If you had one question you would ask your artist that research didn't answer, what would it be and why?
==== If we could ask Vincent one question that our research didn't answer is why did you paint so many portraits of yourself? We believe that he may have painted so many to possibly show progression in his life, and with his depression. Were the paintings meant to be compared to one another to see the slight or drastic change in his facial features, body, and background? ====

In evaluating your wiki, whats your stronger section and why and give examples?
==== Our strongest section in our wiki is our first and second impression of Starry Night. Since we had learned about this painting and what it symbolized with the class, we wrote our impressions we had before we had background knowledge about Van Gogh and his work. We stated directly what we felt about his color choices, and what the figures in the painting were. In the second impression, we wrote about what we learned in class, and went into more depth with his background and how that portrayed in his art work. ====

Whats the weakest section,why?
==== We feel that our weakest section in our wiki was the painting of The Red Vineyard. We knew little of the painting, and did not understand the background when researched. When looking at the painting of the Vineyard, we mostly just saw poor people working in a field. Based on what we learned, we found out that the Vineyard was near his home at the time. He was walking home one day and passed the Vineyard, so he decided to paint it. We couldnt come across why he chose to paint this, therefore this painting was one of our weaker points. ====

= =