@vincent_van_gogh

Vincent van Gogh

I am a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter. In just over a decade I made about 2,100 artworks, including around 860 oil paintings: landscapes, still lifes, portraits and self-portraits in bold colour and expressive brushwork.

Proof · case studies

Cases

The situation, the work, the outcome. Ranked by how much the work proves.

I painted The Starry Night from an asylum window

1889 — 1890

Situation

I voluntarily entered the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum on 8 May 1889 and used one of my two cells as a studio until May 1890.

Action

At Saint-Rémy, with my subjects limited to the clinic, its garden and supervised walks, I turned to cypresses and olive trees: fifteen cypress canvases, at least fifteen olive groves, and The Starry Night.

Outcome

A narrow world forced a deeper series: my art turned cypresses, symbols of death, into living energy.

paintinglandscapeseries

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I painted The Potato Eaters as my first major work

1885 — 1885

Situation

In Nuenen I worked outside and fast, painting weavers, cottages and peasants in sombre earth tones, with my brother Theo trying to find buyers in Paris.

Action

In May 1885 I answered a Paris dealer's interest with The Potato Eaters and a series of peasant character studies, the culmination of nearly 200 oil paintings made in two years at Nuenen.

Outcome

A first major work is the sum of hundreds of studies; my art of peasant life was built figure by figure before it was shown.

paintingpeasant lifefigure study

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I designed the Yellow House as a studio for artists

1888 — 1888

Situation

I came to Arles thinking of founding an art colony. Gauguin agreed to join me, and we painted side by side from October to December 1888.

Action

In 1888 I leased the Yellow House in Arles and began its Décoration, a series of paintings for an artists' studio I hoped to share with Gauguin — probably the most ambitious design effort I ever undertook.

Outcome

I treated a whole house as one work of art: the Sunflowers, the chairs and the night cafés were designed to hang together.

paintingartists' collectivedecoration

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How I painted orchard trees as the source of light

1888 — 1888

On arriving in Arles in 1888 I painted 14 Flowering Orchards swiftly, mastering light by subduing shadows and painting the blossoming trees as if they were the light source — the start of my personal style in art.

painting techniquelightlandscape

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I organised an avant-garde show in a Paris restaurant

1887 — 1887

Situation

In Paris I knew the young painters from Cormon's studio and Père Tanguy's paint shop; Theo and I had just befriended Paul Gauguin.

Action

At the end of 1887 I arranged an exhibition with Bernard, Anquetin and probably Toulouse-Lautrec at the Grand-Bouillon Restaurant du Chalet in Montmartre, where young artists sold work and argued about art and culture.

Outcome

Community building is creative work too: one makeshift show gave peers their first sales and a place to talk art.

exhibitionsartists' collectiveavant-garde

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I painted about 70 oils in 70 days at Auvers

1890 — 1890

Situation

I left Saint-Rémy in May 1890 to be near Dr Paul Gachet in Auvers and near Theo in Paris.

Action

In my last weeks, at Auvers-sur-Oise in May–July 1890, I painted about 70 oils in as many days — wheat fields, Portrait of Dr Gachet, my only etching, Daubigny's Garden and Wheatfield with Crows.

Outcome

At the height of my creative abilities, the art came fastest: one oil a day of fields, portraits and gardens.

paintinglandscapeproductivity

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How I brightened my palette with complementary colour

1886 — 1888

In Paris I rebuilt my palette: I studied Blanc's colour theory, took up Pointillist dots from Signac, and set complementary pairs like blue and orange side by side until my art turned bright.

colour theorycomplementary colourpointillism

Open card

Proof · case studies

Cases

The situation, the work, the outcome. Ranked by how much the work proves.

I painted The Starry Night from an asylum window

1889 — 1890

Situation

I voluntarily entered the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum on 8 May 1889 and used one of my two cells as a studio until May 1890.

Action

Outcome

A narrow world forced a deeper series: my art turned cypresses, symbols of death, into living energy.

paintinglandscapeseries

Open card

I painted The Potato Eaters as my first major work

1885 — 1885

Situation

In Nuenen I worked outside and fast, painting weavers, cottages and peasants in sombre earth tones, with my brother Theo trying to find buyers in Paris.

Action

In May 1885 I answered a Paris dealer's interest with The Potato Eaters and a series of peasant character studies, the culmination of nearly 200 oil paintings made in two years at Nuenen.

Outcome

A first major work is the sum of hundreds of studies; my art of peasant life was built figure by figure before it was shown.

paintingpeasant lifefigure study

Open card

I designed the Yellow House as a studio for artists

1888 — 1888

Situation

I came to Arles thinking of founding an art colony. Gauguin agreed to join me, and we painted side by side from October to December 1888.

Action

Outcome

I treated a whole house as one work of art: the Sunflowers, the chairs and the night cafés were designed to hang together.

paintingartists' collectivedecoration

Open card

How I painted orchard trees as the source of light

1888 — 1888

painting techniquelightlandscape

Open card

I organised an avant-garde show in a Paris restaurant

1887 — 1887

Situation

In Paris I knew the young painters from Cormon's studio and Père Tanguy's paint shop; Theo and I had just befriended Paul Gauguin.

Action

Outcome

Community building is creative work too: one makeshift show gave peers their first sales and a place to talk art.

exhibitionsartists' collectiveavant-garde

Open card

I painted about 70 oils in 70 days at Auvers

1890 — 1890

Situation

I left Saint-Rémy in May 1890 to be near Dr Paul Gachet in Auvers and near Theo in Paris.

Action

In my last weeks, at Auvers-sur-Oise in May–July 1890, I painted about 70 oils in as many days — wheat fields, Portrait of Dr Gachet, my only etching, Daubigny's Garden and Wheatfield with Crows.

Outcome

At the height of my creative abilities, the art came fastest: one oil a day of fields, portraits and gardens.

paintinglandscapeproductivity

Open card

How I brightened my palette with complementary colour

1886 — 1888

In Paris I rebuilt my palette: I studied Blanc's colour theory, took up Pointillist dots from Signac, and set complementary pairs like blue and orange side by side until my art turned bright.

colour theorycomplementary colourpointillism

Open card