Was van Gogh an Impressionist?

A hot topic in the art world is whether Vincent van Gogh was an Impressionist.

Our answer is 'no'. Whilst van Gogh studied and used many impressionist techniques, he (i) developed those techniques significantly and (ii) was never a central member of the impressionist group. He is better described as a post-impressionist.

Expanding on that answer slightly:

Van Gogh spent time with the Impressionists in Paris from 1886 to 1888. This was at the tail-end of the impressionist period, following the death of Edouard Manet in 1883.

During this period, van Gogh learned to paint in the impressionist style, adopting the short, quick brushstrokes and colourful palette of the impressionists.

However, as his style developed further, he moved beyond impressionism, creating a unique, post-Impressionist aesthetic. He is now best known for his bold, swirly colours which, though inspired by nature (like the impressionists), go way beyond the scenes that van Gogh was painting (unlike the impressionists).

The rest of this article provides a 500-word biography on van Gogh's life before exploring the arguments for and against van Gogh being an impressionist.

https://impressionistarts.com/was-van-gogh-an-impressionist

>>19611190

1. Starry Night (June 1889)

One of Van Gogh’s most celebrated paintings, and now an iconic work of art, ‘The Starry Night’ was produced in June 1889.

At that time, Van Gogh was in the psychiatric hospital at Saint-Rémy.

He enjoyed observing the night sky, writing “The sight of the stars always makes me dream” and he would have been able to see this view from the window of his room.

The scene

The luminescent moon and eleven stars dominate the canvass. The dark cypress tree gives structure, and the village (with its beautiful church) adds some interesting detail.

While the scene is partly produced from observation, the village is not present in the scene van Gogh was painting: it comes from his memory and imagination.

Van Gogh did not actually rate the painting that highly. He was not to know that it would become one of the most important works of western art. Indeed, he decided not to waste money on the postage required to send it to his brother Theo (an art dealer in Paris) because he didn't think it would sell!

In a later letter to Emile Barnard, van Gogh referred to Starry Night as a

"failure"

Symbolism

The painting is full of vitality, produced from a series of dreamlike swirls and rich colours. For many, it also symbolises an outpouring of Van Gogh’s emotions. The painting can be considered as a meditation on life and death.

Cypresses were often associated with mourning and could commonly be found in graveyards.

As Van Gogh once wrote:

“Why, I say to myself, should the spots of light in the firmament be less accessible to us than the black spots on the map of France? Just as we take the train to go to Tarascon or Rouen, we take death to go to a star.”

Religion?

As with the Cafe Culture, there is an interesting debate about whether Starry Night was inspired by religion. Genesis 37:9 says as follows:

" … I have dreamed a dream more; and behold the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me."

Starry Night definitely has a moon and eleven stars.

Furthermore, Joseph - who is being quoted in Genesis - also predicted that one day his family would come to respect him. That bears a parallel with van Gogh's life: with the exception of his brother, Theo, his family regarded him as a bit of a loser.

Don McLean

You know a picture is famous when Don McLean writes a song about it. The song is actually called 'Vincent', though it is often referred to as 'Starry Starry Night'.

McLean wrote it on a paper bag, after reading a van Gogh biography, because he wanted to argue that van Gogh was ill and not crazy. It is no doubt for this reason that the lyrics include:

Now, I understand what you tried to say to me /

And how you suffered for your sanity /

And how you tried to set them free /

They would not listen, they did not know how /

Perhaps they'll listen now

Starry Night over the Rhone

Starry Night is a bolder depiction of the night sky than van Gogh's earlier (September 1888) work Starry Night over the Rhone.

Starry Night over the RhoneStarry Night over the Rhone

Where are they now?

Starry Night is the jewel in the crown of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. Its less famous predecessor, Starry Night over the Rhone, is in the Musee d'Orsay in Paris.

https://impressionistarts.com/top-10-vincent-van-gogh-paintings/#7

A Vincent van Gogh Painting Stolen From a Dutch Museum Was Just Returned—in a Blue Ikea Bag

SEPTEMBER 13, 2023

The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring could be worth up to $6.4 million.

A stolen Vincent van Gogh painting was recently returned in a rather abstract way.

The Dutch painter’s The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring was stolen back in March 2020 from a museum just outside Amsterdam that was closed due to the pandemic. On Monday, though, it was returned by an anonymous man inside a big blue Ikea bag, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. The painting had been wrapped in plastic and stuffed into a pillowcase, with the pillow still in there as well.

“It’s always a dream to recover something like this,” Arthur Brand, the art detective who received the stolen painting, told the WSJ. “Many people already had considered it to be lost forever.”

Brand had been working with police to find the stolen van Gogh, which was taken from the Dutch museum Singer Laren at the beginning of the Covid pandemic. A thief broke through a glass door at 3:15 in the morning and left with the painting on a motorcycle, Jan Rudolph de Lorm, the Singer Laren museum director, told The Wall Street Journal. While a man was arrested in connection with the theft in 2021, the painting hadn’t been found until now.

Apparently, someone reached out to Brand a couple of weeks ago saying that he could return the stolen van Gogh. Brand gave him his address in Amsterdam and, true to his word, the mystery man delivered the painting to Brand. (In the past, the art detective has helped police recover stolen works, including two bronze sculptures known as Hitler’s horses in 2015.)

The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring was painted by van Gogh in 1884, five years before The Starry Night was completed. It depicts a garden at a clergy home where his father was a pastor, and utilizes oil paints on wooden panels. Just 11 inches tall and 22 inches long, Brand estimated that the painting is worth $3.2 million to $6.4 million.

The Groninger Museum, which owns the painting and had lent it to Singer Laren, told the WSJ that it was “extremely happy and relieved that the work is back.” The artwork had some small scratches on it after being returned, and it’s currently at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam for restoration. That process could take a while, with weeks or months until the van Gogh is displayed once again.

The painting “has suffered, but is—at first glance—still in good condition,” the Groninger said.

That should be welcome news in the art world.

https://robbreport.com/lifestyle/news/stolen-van-gogh-returned-1234896246/

>>19611250

>>need place to park tractor out of sun