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Piet Mondrian’s Abstract Art

Piet Mondrian was an influential Dutch Abstract painter of the first half of the 20th Century.

When standing in front of one of Mondrian’s later artwork of the 1920s, you might think that his work is derived from a strict ordering of geometric shapes & lines and a scientific balance of colors. Instead, what is illustrated is the harmonious essence of the world around Mondrian, obtained through sensitive and emotional exploration of his soul.

In Mondrian’s own words (letter to Bremmer, 1914):

I construct lines and color combinations on a flat surface, in order to express general beauty with the utmost awareness. Nature (or, that which I see) inspires me, puts me, as with any painter, in an emotional state so that an urge comes about to make something, but I want to come as close as possible to the truth and abstract everything from that, until I reach the foundation (still just an external foundation!) of things…

I believe it is possible that, through horizontal and vertical lines constructed with awareness, but not with calculation, led by high intuition, and brought to harmony and rhythm, these basic forms of beauty, supplemented if necessary by other direct lines or curves, can become a work of art, as strong as it is true.

The art of Piet Mondrian moved through many different stages before it landed at his famous ‘Composition with Red, Yellow and Blue’ realization - a abstract painting he did in 1921. The evolution to Mondrian’s famous neo-plastic artwork took about 30 years. His search for ‘essence’ and ‘harmony’ started early, while creating his realistic artworks. Besides portraits, windmills and flowers, he first painted mainly country landscapes. His abstraction starts to show for instance in his riverscapes when he realizes symmetrical harmony with river bank reflections in the water. His earlier representational paintings prove the influence of various art movements on Mondrian, including fauvism, pointillism and cubism.

There are 5 distinct stages of this work, which could be named as
1. Naturalism. 1895-1905 - country landscapes with windmills, portraits & flowers.
2. Evening landscapes, 1906-1907.
3. Luminism- modernist, 1908-1911.
4. Cubism, 1912-1916.
5. Neo-plasticism or ‘de Stijl’ -period, 1917 - 1944.
An artwork called ‘De Avond’ (translated ‘the Evening’) painted in 1908 shows his turning point towards color purification.

Broadway Boogie Woogie Piet Mondrian

Mondrian’s artwork symbolizes a highlight of abstract art of the ’20s in a more general sense. Both an art movement and an art magazine maintained by Mondrian’s contemporary painter Theo van Doesburg, ‘de Stijl’ was idealistic and aimed to convey spiritual harmony and order. Besides ‘Mondrian, other contributors to De Stijl included the painter van der Leck, and architect - furniture designer Gerrit Rietveld.

Mondrian was born in Amersfoort, the Netherlands in 1872. His father, a school teacher, taught Mondrian to draw at a young age. Mondrian used art to escape reality, immersing himself in the world of his own imagination.

Tableau I Piet Mondrian

Over the years partly driven by his need for artistic development and partly influenced by the WWI and WWII, Mondriaan moved back and forth from the city to the countryside and from the Netherlands, to Paris, France. He subsequently to London. His final destination was New York City, where he passed away in 1944. His work lives on, as vibrant as ever.

You can find the best of Mondrian’s artwork mostly in museums in the Netherlands and New York City, but really at locations around the world:

• The City Museum of The Hague, Netherlands, holds the largest collection.
• Rijksmuseum Kröller-Müller, Otterlo, the Netherlands, holds some of his best compositions
• The Museum of Modern Art in New York City
• Guggenheim’s Mondriaan collection
• The Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
• Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Mr and Mrs William Preston Harrison Collection., Los Angeles, CA
• Kunstmuseum Basel, Emanuel Hoffman Bequest, Basel, Switzerland, holds interesting compositions
• Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
• Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, Italy

The Artist’s Mother ~ Haring, Hockney, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Picasso …

For this special day, honoring Motherhood, I thought to look at how some artists have depicted their own mother or an archetypal mother.

Who’s Mom?

The artists’ real mothers are displayed as persons with their own life. She is an individual with a personal life and character as is witnessed by her child, the artist.

By painting his/her mother, child - mother relationship is revealed by the fact that the artist paints his mother and how she is depicted.

In contrast, the ‘mother and child’ images are simpler and softer. They symbolize the child’s innocence, mother love and protection.

Finally, there is the mother as ultimate source.

Pablo Picasso

This difference can been quite clearly in two paintings by Picasso, that were made almost in the same year.

In 1922, Picasso painted this lovely symbolic painting of Mother and child. Mother with Divine light in her heart, and the baby painted in Divine & innocent blue. The whole painting is lovely, gentle, and nurturing. Displaying the delicate growth of nature.

In contrast, in 1923, Picasso painted his own ‘Mother’. She’s placed ‘backwards’, almost black and white, not facing the viewers, she is strong, dignified, emotionless.

The Mother as Birth-Giver & Nurturer

Paul Klee

1938, Paul Klee made his ‘Mother & Child’ in watercolors.

She tenderly cares for her baby.

Keith Haring

Social Activist, Keith Haring, painted ‘Mother Holding Baby’, in 1986. The child is colored innocent & Divine. The mother is the strong, happy protector.

The Mother as The Artist’s Mother

David Hockney

The photos here are a ‘before’ and ‘after’. The first image is a thumbnail of an early painting of David Hockney’s ‘My parents’ (1977).

Hockney usually gave hints to the sitter’s character by depicting them in their normal environments. In it, his devout mom in in Mother Mary’s holy blue. She’s smiling contently. Her husband is in the room with her. She’ll level-headed and has her two feet on the ground.

My Mother, Bolton Abbey, Yorkshire Nov. 82

In this photo collage of his mother in 1982, Hockney clad her head-toe in a bluish rain coat that resembled a bag for a corpse, and made her lean against a tomb stone on a graveyard. It’s dreary weather, and she looks away.

Actually, Hockney portrayed her on the day of her husband’s funeral. In doing so, he created an image of unveiled human suffering, a moving and outstanding testament to both of his parents.

In 1985, three years after her husband’s death, David Hockney made a still-scattered mom in his photo collage.

A few years later (1988-1989), David Hockney painted his ‘Mum’ again, now in a tender portrait. While she looks straight ahead, she is not really looking in your eyes. Her eyes look like two globes, who have seen it all. However, the pain of losing her husband has dulled. This painting is made with love.

Rembrandt

In 1629, Rembrandt painted his own mom with utmost detail.

He made this painting in the transition from religious-themed scenes towards portraits of the wealthy & the noblesse.

He painted her twice in the span of just a few years.

Van Gogh

In 1888, Van Gogh painted his happy, sweet mom to look like this (painted in oil on canvas).

Made in Arles.

The Mother as Omni-Presence

In my study of artists and their mothers, I discovered a third, interesting angle: the archetypal Mother as ultimate source and omni-presence.

Rauschenberg

Early in his career, in 1950 Rauschenberg created this conceptual ‘combine’ collage/painting called ‘The Mother of God’. Whether you take the title to be ‘the ultimate source of the Divine’ or an exclamation in the face of the extreme, the painting is great, strong and meaningful. The ‘negative’ space around the large disk (source / sun ) is made up of city maps. You can choose the painting to mean that the God-Mother’s saving white light is omnipresent, hanging over the cities and being right there for anyone who lives there, but many other readings are possible. For example, the circle could also be read to be the womb. And it could be seen as a void, representing the unknowable nature of God.

Dubuffet

Dubuffet choose to paint the symbol ‘The Mother Goddess’. To me, she is the Earth Mother, in her black and red tones. In this as in his other paintings, Dubuffet focused on the essential expressive factors of painting, gesture and color, and broke with aesthetic conventions. Interestingly, she is only painted till the waist, even though the womb and the lower chakras best relate to Mother Earth. The emphasis is on her mouth and eyes. She looks … amazed, shocked, violated ?! Certainly not a happy princess.

By Astrid Lee ~ copyright 2008

Vincent Van Gogh - A Depth of Passion Transformed - II

By John Keaton

Continuation of part I of his article:

Arles : A New Hope Turns Tragic

Arriving in Arles on February 20, 1888, Vincent had most certainly hoped that the light of provence would inspire his work and raise his artistic abilities to a new, creative plateau. By this point, the plein-air painting he had explored along with the influence of impressionism and the japonaisse elements he utilized were fused and became, certainly without his own realization, the style that would become distinctly “Vincent “

The Sower, painted in June of 1888, displays a return to one of Van Gogh’s favorite motifs, and his lifelong fascination with the work of Millet. At one point, Vincent painted seven copies of the Sower in one week. Here in Arles, the Sower takes on a majestic quality with the brilliant sun blazing across the fields with a divine intensity.

It is a well know fact that Vincent could not afford to hire models for his paintings and very often painted himself. No fewer than 35 of these portraits exist, certainly more self-portraits than any artist had ever painted.

They are intriguing, not merely for the versatility of style, but also because they provide insight into Vincent’s state of mind at the particular point of time in which they were created.
The Self Portrait with Pipe and Straw Hat was painted in August of 1888. In my view, it is a charming portrayal of the artist’s optimism and hope for a productive, creative period of his life. There is a sense of peace and renewal evident in his face and in the simple, yet confident brush strokes.

Vincent’s intention in Arles was to create a colony of artists in the southern provincial city. The Painter, Paul Gauguin joined him for a brief time on this artistic excursion of pure expression. Their time together proved to be short-lived however, as their temperaments were vastly different.
While boarding at the yellow house, a bizarre incident occurred which was to mark the end of their relationship. In an atmosphere fueled by alcohol and Vincent’s delusional tantrums, the two personalities clashed, an argument ensued, and Van Gogh cut off a portion of his ear and delivered it to a prostitute named Rachel.

Much has been written regarding this episode and some of the facts have been misconstrued by dramatic interpretations. It is clear that Vincent suffered from both visual and aural hallucinations and that he also partook heavily in the drinking of absinthe, a highly potent mixture, with the same effects as opium. More than likely, the combination of all these elements, along with Vincent’s damaged self-esteem and string of emotional disappointments, led to this bizarre act.
Of the 187 Painting created in Arles, many are Vincent’s best loved works. The painting, Vincent’s Bedroom in Arles, is considered the best of five different versions of the scene. Vincent was so pleased with the work that he wrote highly detailed letters describing the painting: “In a word, looking at the picture ought to rest the brain, or rather the imagination.”

The unusual forced perspective of the room with its slanted back wall is in fact a contradiction to Vincent’s intended vision. Once again we see a composition influenced by Vincent’s preoccupation with Asian art, some prints of which can be seen on the walls. The room grows narrow and perhaps reflect Van Gogh’s sense of isolation and an attempt to record some sense of order in a world of lonely chaos.

“I feel the desire to renew myself and to try to apologize for the fact that my pictures are after all almost a cry of anguish, although in the rustic sunflower they may symbolize gratitude.”

-Vincent Van Gogh, Letter to Wil, Letter W20
c.20 February 1890

After Van Gogh’s self mutilation episode on a December Sunday in 1888, the young surgeon, Doctor Felix Rey, was placed in charge of Vincent’s care. Perhaps as a token of his appreciation, Van Gogh immortalized the doctor in a portrait in January 1889.

By this point the citizens of Arles had registered a formal complaint against Van Gogh and considered him a threat to the stability and security of their peaceful community.
Doctor Rey’s parents were so mortified by the portrait that they actually used the painting to patch up a hole in their chicken coop. Some twenty years later, Rey rescued the painting which now resides in the State Pushkin Museum of Fine Art in Moscow.

Saint-Remy: The Elation of Heightened Nature

Perhaps realizing the seriousness of his own mental deterioration, Van Gogh voluntarily committed himself to a mental asylum in Saint-Remy de Provence in May of 1889. This was to be one of the most difficult years of his life, ironically though, and in the true spirit of this gifted artist, it was also to be one of Vincent’s most productive periods. Despite being at times completely incapacitated and at battle with his own horrific demons, Van Gogh created some of the most enduring images of all time. We see them now, and they appear to us as old friends. Stars and Trees, etched upon our conscious. This is perhaps Vincent’s greatest gift to us: The depth of his passion transformed through the tragedy of madness into visions that transcend time and space and become tangible visual icons of the human experience.

In this enchanting work, there is a rolling energy as stars explode across the cool blue sky while wild cypress trees rise like flames from the tiny hamlet created entirely from imagination and memory. Considering the popularity of this exquisite painting, let’s take a look at a drawing of the very same composition from Moscow’s Museum of Architecture.

During his convalescence, Van Gogh created no less than 142 paintings from May of 1889 to May of 1890. An ardent admirer of Eugene Delacroix and Rembrandt, he painted his own unique interpretations of their works. Perhaps sensing his own demise, the tormented artist reinterpreted Delacroix’s Pieta. A compelling work, Vincent’s Pieta, is one of compassion and expresses a return to the religious roots of his childhood. The image of Christ being taken down from the cross is much lighter in color than the heavier, more classically influenced work of Delacroix. Nevertheless the emotion and power of expression are clearly evident.

The Painting, Road with Cypress and Stars, is nearly a companion piece to Starry Night. There is a bit of human activity in the foreground and we even see a carriage with two passengers on the far left. The Cypress Tree is the main focus with its turbulent fiery presence in front a blazing sky.
The chisel-like brushwork and amplified surface texture had become hallmarks of Vincent’s work by this time. This was to be one of Van Gogh’s last paintings at the Asylum in Saint Remy.
Upon the advice of his brother, Theo, Vincent moved to Auvers-sur-Oise, a small village north of Paris. Here he was placed under the care of the Flemish Doctor Paul-Ferdinand Gachet, a sixty two year old specialist in mental illness. While Gachet’s competency was questionable, the situation of Van Gogh’s increasingly tragic sense of melancholy called for some drastic measure. An avid admirer of Vincent’s work, Dr. Gachet was thoroughly delighted with his Portrait.
In more recent years, The Portrait of Dr. Gachet fetched an astounding 82.5 Million Dollars at Christie’s Auction House in New York, the highest price ever paid for a painting.
An image of turbulent vitality and vividly colored anguish, Wheat Fields With Crows is considered Van Gogh’s last painting. While this may or not be true, the painting is explosive and there is a terrific atmosphere of an ominous and even sinister nature.

Armed with a revolver, Van Gogh shot himself on the afternoon of July 27, 1890. Two days later, Vincent died with his brother Theo and Paul Gachet, the doctor’s son at his side. Leaving behind a tormented and emotionally disastrous past fraught with despair and sorrow, Vincent Van Gogh’s artistic contribution is unrivalled in its emotional complexity and the sheer power of a tormented soul’s creative capacity.

An Overview

In the course of his lifetime, Vincent Van Gogh created a veritable treasure trove of artwork. Over 1000 Drawings, 870 Paintings, 150 Watercolors and more than 133 letter sketches form the body of his vast accomplishments as an artist. The majority of these works were done within a period of four years from 1886 to 1890. Barely recognized during his lifetime, Vincent Van Gogh is now recognized as one of the world’s greatest and most influential Artists.

Website References:

The Vincent Van Gogh Gallery: http://www.vangoghgallery.com/

(This website is the absolute definitive source on all things Van Gogh. The site provides a comprehensive overview on Van Gogh’s life and work and is also endorsed by the Van Gogh Museum of Amsterdam)

http://www.artelino.com/articles/van_gogh_japonisme.asp
http://www.island-of-freedom.com/VANGOGH.HTM
http://www.gardenofpraise.com/art19.htm
http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/159/4/519
http://www.dalehobson.org/prolight/notes.html
http://www.physicsforums.com/archive/t-10432_Why_Van_Gogh_Cut_His_Ear.html
http://www.artquotes.net/masters/vangogh_biography.htm
http://www.art-artist.co.uk/vincent_van_gogh/artist/gogh-felix-rey.htm

Bibliography:

Van Gogh By Pierre Cabanne
Copyright by Finest S.A.
Editions Pierre Terrail
Paris 2003

Living with Art
By Rita Gilbert
Copyright 1995 by Rita Gilbert
McGraw-Hill, Inc.

Van Gogh
By Rene Huyghe
Crown Publishers, Inc. New York
Printed in Italy
Copyright 1967 by Ufficipress
S.A. Lugano

Civilisation
By Kenneth Clark
Published by the BBC
Copyright 1969 by Kenneth Clark

ART: Context and Criticism
By John Kissick
Penn State University
Copyright 1993
By Wm. C. Brown Communications

This Article copyright 2005 by John Keaton. All Rights Reserved.

Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Keaton

Vincent Van Gogh - A Depth of Passion Transformed - I

By John Keaton

“And my aim in my life is to make pictures and drawings, as many and as well as I can; then, at the end of my life, I hope to pass away, looking back with love and tender regret, and thinking, ‘Oh, the pictures I might have made!’”

-Vincent Van Gogh, Letter 338, 9 November 1883

In the annals of art history, there is no comparison to the enduringly tragic and passionate life of Vincent Van Gogh. His works have been embraced and are treasured by a world which once scarcely understood or accepted this tragic and tortured genius.

The beauty of his remarkably prolific career lies in the intensity and conviction of heart, which he placed in his images. His works remain etched and embossed within our subconscious and still linger in our minds long after this tormented soul’s dramatic departure from this life.

Born March 30, 1853, Vincent Wilhelm Van Gogh’s young life was overshadowed by the death of a brother exactly one year prior to Vincent’s birth. Ironically, the brother’s name was also Vincent. Imagine the confusion of a meditative young boy dealing with the concept of being a replacement child and actually visiting a grave on a regular basis bearing his name. Nevertheless, the mournful and desolate countryside of Vincent’s birthplace in Groot-Zundert, Holland became the nurturing source and breeding ground for Van Gogh’s intense exploration of nature and the world around him.

His favorite brother was Theo, who became and remained a beacon of hope, support and encouragement throughout Van Gogh’s entire life. They were kindred spirits and their eloquent and tender correspondences (over 700 letters) are thoroughly archived as a living testimony to their symbiotic closeness.

In May of 1873, Vincent was sent to London to work at the Goupil Gallery as a young art salesman, where he began to explore and developed an appreciation for art of all sorts. While there he met a young woman named Ursula Loyer of whom Vincent became completely enamored and proposed marriage. Ursula mocked him and refused his advances with nothing short of contempt for the 21-year-old Van Gogh.

This disappointment, the basis of a lifetime of isolation and despair, became an awe-consuming event which shattered his expectations of a “normal life” While this may seem a childish exaggeration, this pattern of rejection was to repeat itself many times over the course of Vincent’s Life and influence his perception of the world around him.

The Emerging Artist: Nuenen

While speculation on Van Gogh’s personal life, emotional and physical troubles could fill volumes; we will focus on his art. This is best achieved by concentrating on the specific regions in which Van Gogh lived and worked and his reasons for being there, as opposed to a lengthy analysis of his coming and goings. Van Gogh did travel quite extensively for someone of his stature and class, but more relevant are the images themselves, which were created in a certain area at a significant point in his artistic growth.

The son of a Dutch protestant minister, Vincent’s early life was spent studying theology and acting as lay preacher for the miners of the region. Herein lies his fascination with common folk and workers of the lands and fields. In one of the artist’s earliest works entitled Sorrow, the trials and tribulations of life take on an overwhelming somber tone.

In his first truly serious painting, The Potato Eaters, painted in Nuenen in April of 1885, we see a poverty stricken world with characters neatly sculpted in sharp, deep tones of thickly applied oil paint. It was during this stage of the artist’s development that the themes of the harvest and character studies of the miners took priority. The 192 canvases painted during this period are portraits of courage and dignity in spite of oppressive poverty and depressive circumstances.

“The point is that I have tried to bring out the idea that these people eating potatoes by the light of their lamp have dug the earth with the self-same hands they are now putting into the dish, and it thus suggests manual labor and — a meal honestly earned.”

-Vincent Van Gogh, Letter to Theo, c. 30 April 1885

Antwerp : Academic Reinforcement

During Van Gogh’s brief stay in the city of Antwerp, he attended the Academic Royale des Beaux Art. Although he painted only seven paintings during his three month tenure, the focus was on academic precision and it’s inclusion in the refinement of his art and technique. Arising from his studies of anatomy and the human figure, Van Gogh produced this rather startling macabre image entitled, Skull with Burning Cigarette. Perhaps Vincent was reflecting on his own ill health at the time with complaints of rotting teeth and stomach ailments.

Paris : Pivotal Artistic Exploration

In 1886 Vincent moved to Paris to stay with his brother Theo, now an art dealer. This period of Vincent’s life is remarkable in Van Gogh’s exposure to new art movements and his willingness to experiment and apply these new concepts to his own creations.

Influenced by the Impressionists, his palette became much lighter and the colors more brilliant. Other influences include Japanese prints with their flat, decorative panels of color, which were highly popular at the time. Vincent incorporated many of these new influences in this incredibly vibrant stage of his life and career.

The painting Interior of a Restaurant with its speckles of yellow, gold and green, clearly displays the influence of Divisionism and even Pointillism, a technique developed by George Seurat. During his stay in Paris, Van Gogh met and associated with many of the premiere impressionists of his day, among them, Toulouse-Lautrec, Pissaro, Seurat and of Course, Gauguin. Upon viewing Vincent’s work for the first time, Gauguin remarked, “You really do paint like a madman!”

This incident took place in an art supply store, which was run by Pere Tanguy, who also displayed paintings and considered himself an art dealer. Van Gogh’s Portrait of Pere Tanguy. is of special interest with the colorful Japanese prints and woodcuts, which profoundly influenced Vincent’s work at the time, that form the background of this unique portrait.

Painted in the late summer months of 1887, the painting, Two Cut Sunflowers, is particularly striking. Vincent’s fascination with the vivid yellow of these huge flowers is well known. The intensity of the color is only matched with Van Gogh’s seemingly manic strokes. During his stay in Paris, Vincent painted 222 paintings, many of which are considered masterpieces. Rural scenes of the area, numerous self-portraits and landscapes of the city itself are the subjects of Vincent’s incredible outpour of vivacious and enchanting imagery.

– continued in part II of this article.

This Article copyright 2005 by John Keaton. All Rights Reserved.

Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Keaton

No Name For Art - # 1

History of Mosaics

By Mustafa Ghaddar

Being one of the most beautiful and oldest forms of art in the history of man, one couldn’t help but wonder about how such art has evolved and survived through all these centuries. This type of ornamental arts where small tiles of stones and marbles are used to develop patterns and pictures appeared randomly in totally different cultures and locations. That is why; mosaics can’t be rooted to a particular people or culture. However, there is a clear conformity among historians that this type of art came into life out from the orient. One of the primitive demonstrations that were discovered in the art of mosaics goes back to the oldest civilization in Mesopotamia, the Chaldeans, who date back to 4000BC. The remains were some painted columns covered with mosaics.

By the eighth century BC, there were pebble pavements, using different colored stones to create patterns, though these tended to be unstructured decoration.

In the 4th century BC, it was the Greeks who transformed it into an art form through making intricate and well-defined geometric patterns with meticulous scenes of people and animals. With the Romans, the mosaic field was further upgraded even though the level of artistry and skill were slightly diminished. Their works included brilliant geometric displays, celebration of the gods scenes and domestic themes that were used mostly on floors.

Moving to the 5th century AD, the Byzantine Empire and civilization took hold of the mosaic art. New characteristics were injected in this form of art. Eastern influences were clearly reflected in the style and the use of glass tesserae. Mosaics in the Byzantine Era were utilized to cover mainly walls and ceilings. Themes mostly included religion and the portraits of emperors and empresses.

Today, the sheer beauty and magnificence of mosaics are sought by art lovers and people from all over the world. The mosaic art that we’re experiencing nowadays have surpassed the thousands of years that went by. This art beholds the greatness of every civilization and captures the secrets and the artistic spirit of each and every culture that it existed in. Holding on to our precious heritage, Phoenician Arts connects this art with the modern world by blending the secret techniques of our ancestors along with the expertise and knowledge of our passionate artists to bring forth the very best in the timeless world of mosaics. Mosaics add a touch of inspiration and a feeling of warmth to any setting. They are an admirable breath of class & sophistication!

http://www.mozaico.net

Mozaico, is your Fine Mosaic Home Place where you can find your perfect mosaic pattern. Our mosaics are handmade and are made from natural decorative tiles. They are wonderful for your wall murals, kitchen backsplash, bath decor, marble floor, mosaic table or any setting you want to beautify. Our customized services are a sure thing for you to find exactly what you desire.
http://www.mozaico.net

Analysis of The Sunflowers - Vincent van Gogh

Vincent’s Sunflowers

“The sunflower is mine in a way.” –Vincent van Gogh

Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” are among his most famous paintings, but few people realize he did many sunflower pictures, not just the most famous “Vase with Twelve Sunflowers” and “Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers.” These were canvases he made to decorate the Yellow House in Arles in anticipation of his friend Paul Gauguin’s visit, and in the hope that other artists would follow and form a Utopian art community. Some of Vincent’s sunflower paintings are all but indistinguishable, with only tiny differences to prove one reproduction is different from the next. During his stay in Paris, he painted cut sunflowers in different stages of being, from fresh to wilted to dry.

He appears to have brought his passion for sunflowers with him from his homeland in Holland wherever he roamed, and indeed, they make the kind of dramatic subject he loved. Around the world today, the sunflower is synonymous with Vincent’s work, immediately recognizable and every bit as much his own as the water lilies belonging to Monet.

Vincent’s “Sunflowers No. 2,” the most famous sunflower still life, yellow on yellow, possesses the same universal appeal and impact of all his most beloved pictures. So widespread is the appeal of his sunflowers, in fact, that in 1987, a Japanese company paid a record of the equivalent of almost 40 million dollars for “Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers” at an auction. Van Gogh’s many sunflower canvases are flung all over the world in testimony to his mastery, now residing in art galleries in Europe, London and Tokyo, to name a few.

During his stay in Paris, Vincent hobnobbed with some of the greatest Impressionist painters of the period. The artists all had a great effect on one another, including van Gogh, who was recognized as a formidable genius by “Les Vingt,” Monet and Toulouse Lautrec, among others. One can readily discern the Paris sunflowers from the ones Vincent painted later, in the Yellow House at Arles, since they are cut flowers without vases. These cut sunflowers are depicted in various stages of wilting, but Vincent’s final bright and bold color palette is evident at this point in his artistic development, permeating the pictures with life and joy.

The master’s influence on western art and artists cannot be overstated. His work bridged impressionism, expressionism, cubism and more with a unique language understood by all lovers of beauty and truth. The enormous popularity of a simple vase of sunflowers attests to his power and sincerity.

Though Vincent was plagued by a serious mental imbalance and eventually took his own life, he left a body of over 2,000 canvases, painted in about a decade, as a living legacy. Whether they represent his portrayals of living fields of wheat or swirling stars, tender and thoughtful portraits of the peasants he loved or starkly vivid flowers in a simple vase, his works all bear his own stylistic imprint. Seen as a superb form of communication of the spirit, his work succeeded beyond his wildest dreams to comfort and console humanity through art. It is through his paintings, not his over-romanticized, beleaguered life, that he should be judged as the poet, prophet and master artist he was.

By Elizabeth Harding

Visit the Life of Van Gogh website for more information on Van Gogh paintings, or to get out own Biography of Vincent Van Gogh.

The Life and Art of Paul Gauguin

French painter Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin was born in Paris in 1848 and then moved to Peru with his family when he was only three years old. Growing up in Peru provided much excitement and had a great impact on him as little boy. When he turned 17, he joined the Navy and went to sea for about six years. He returned to France after his voyages, more mature and filled with impressions of strange and beautiful lands.

He did not immediately become an artist. He chose to settle in Paris and learn to become a stockbroker. At 35, much to his family surprise, Paul gave up his career to devote his life to painting in order to show the simple beauty he saw in the lives of primitive peoples. He was quite accustomed to success and believed that he would succeed in painting. Unfortunately, his wife saw it as an unnecessary indulgence and never forgave him for a “selfish” decision. Years later, the couple separated.

Paul had always enjoyed the art of the French artists known as the impressionists. He took up painting right away and in 1818 he exhibited his works with other impressionists. However, the reality of living an artist’s life shocked Gauguin. He enjoyed his former comforts so much that he had difficulty adjusting to his new life in poverty. By 1886, the expense and pressure of city life had become so demanding that Gauguin decided to leave Paris and live in an artist’s colony in Brittany. After a year, he decided to travel to Panama where he worked as a laborer. Then he went to the tropics, to Martinique, where he lived and painted in freedom. However, after a year of living in Martinique, Gauguin was forced to return to Brittany, penniless and quite ill.

In October, 1888 he visited another famous artist, Vincent van Gogh, in the latter’s home in Arles, France. Gauguin’s stay with Van Gogh proved to be a powerful collaboration of sorts; it was said that they frequently disagreed and were distressing to live with. On good days, however, they managed to learn from each other and produced some of their best work during these times. It is said that Gauguin returned to Paris after Van Gogh’s “incident”. Gauguin slowly broke away form the impressionist movement and painted “Vision after the Sermon”, where he attempted to externalize the feelings of his subjects. This painting is important in his career because it ushered in a new style that is now called “Symbolism”.

However, it was a combination of the beautiful surroundings of Brittany and his exotic voyages that led them to develop his own unique style. Gauguin devoted his time painting portraits, landscapes and still lifes as simple forms in pure and intense colors surrounded by black outlines. Many critics remark that the graceful mess and simplicity of the painting is communicating the artist’s strongest feelings towards the exotic and the natural.

In 1891, Gauguin saved enough money to go to the primitive South Sea island of Tahiti. At first, the artist was extremely happy in the midst of the forests, the strange flora and fauna and the island’s beautiful people. He decided to stay and share the simple life of the natives from there on. However, throughout his stay, Gauguin was tormented by severe depression and tried to battle drug addiction.

Most of Gauguin’s paintings capture the beauty of Tahitian culture and its women, but seemed to show that the artist was really not completely happy nor understood in this primitive society. After many years of poverty and sickness, Gauguin died from heart failure, alone and unaware of the mark his art would later make on the 20th century.

By Michael Russell

Michael Russell: Your Independent guide to Arts

Chuck Close & Robert Rauschenberg: 1 hr video interviews

This 1 hour video is a great treat!!!
It contains two artists interviews of contemporary artists about their art.

Interview with Chuck Close, Artist
1) Artist clips: “Chuck Close: Portrait in Progress” [Muse Film and Television / Art Kaleidoscope Foundation /WNET];
2) book: “Chuck Close” [The Museum of Modern Art]
“The Portraits Speak: Chuck Close in Conversation with 27 of His Subjects”

Interview with Robert Rauschenberg, Artist
1) Interview
2) Walking tour at the Guggenheim

Art’s Impact on Society

Art is an extremely private experience, yet, it is meant to be shared with the public. Society, as a whole, examines the art produced and has the right to approve, disapprove, acknowledge, ignore, praise and abuse it. The public or society has not remained constant over the years. In the time of the Renaissance, for example, only a select few were “society.” They commissioned art, were patrons of the arts and their artists. Today, almost anyone can share in the experience of art. They can attempt to create, view and act as a critic.

Does art make the world a better place, or is it quite useless? This is a very ancient riddle, and no one has solved it yet. A similar question - has art truly had any impact upon society? Has it fashioned or molded minds? Has it shaped opinions and altered how people feel or think? Is it practicable in or relevant to society and its individuals’ daily lives?

Art reflects life. It is a portrait of history, whether it is history of the current moment or an event in the past or something of the imagination. Art has captured an event, clarifying its existence and representation to society. The portraits of the French Revolution by David, Benjamin West’s portrayal of the death of General Wolfe and Poussin’s recreation of the Rape of the Sabine Women all strive to provide a version of historical events. Society, in turn, can accept or reject these portrayals of true events. Sometimes, as in the case of Goya’s depiction of the French behavior during their conquest of Spain, art inspires a deep hatred of a certain nationality.

Art encapsulate a country’s culture during that time period. Rembrandt, Rousseau, Monet, Hogarth, Whistler, Jan Steen, Frans Hal and Breughel depict for their generation the world as they see it. They affect future society by providing concise, if sometimes imaginative, depictions of daily life. Brughel the Elder paints peasants, Jean Baptiste depicts lower-class life and Daumier’s subjects in “The Third Class Carriage” are not the
lofty work of Gainsborough. The wit and graphicness of Hogarth in “The Rake’s Progress” or the imposing work of Thomas Eakins’ “The Gross Clinic” provide historians with clues and pictures to a vastly different way of life. Jan Steen’s “The Eve of St. Nicholas” provides a way to uncover how people spent Christmas in the early 17th century in the Netherlands.

Art has encouraged feelings of patriotism and national pride. Goya’s, “The Third of May, 1808,” the Americans portrayal of their revolution and countless other artists across the centuries have provided an impact extending beyond the work. Depictions of Washington crossing the Delaware, and portraits of battlefields, at home and abroad, are scenes that inspire society. These works also remind the public of their past, what has been sacrificed or accomplished and what they can aspire to in the present or future.

Artwork has also provided clues to lives long over and species since disappeared. Holstein provides us with portraits of people long dead e.g. Henry VIII, Erasmus of Rotterdam, as Rubens does with his painting of Marie de’ Medici. Goya’s masterful and psychologically rich work “The Family of Charles IV” lays bare the natures and relationships of this royal family for all of society to view. Art has also provided examples of garden styles, structures to be imitated and fashions to follow.

Artwork has allowed us to glimpse lives and lifestyles. At one time, dressmakers in the colonies used the artwork found in magazines and depicted in reproductions of paintings to create the latest in fashionable clothing. Art shaped a fashionable society where none had existed before. It allowed the Americans to be as up-to-date as their European counterparts. In the same manner, George Caleb Bingham with his painting “Fur Traders on the Mississippi” allowed Europeans a glimpse of another life. The art works by the Jewish artists trapped in the concentration camps of World War II preserve for all time the horrors of war and the inhumanity inflicted by one race upon another. Art has also been a medium to help spread a culture. Art of propaganda during war is a classic example. Posters urge people to support their troops. Marketing ploys ask consumers to buy locally or purchase a specific product. Pop art is probably one of the most influential societal tools of the modern and post-modern age. The best possible example is Any Warhol. His Campbell Soup Cans are now icons.

Art has stirred the imagination of all nations from the earliest time. It has helped roused patriotic fervor, brought new ideas and culture to light, raised questions and rewritten or reinterpreted historical events. Art has provided clues to the past and advanced questions about the future. Its impact continues to be felt emotionally. For, above all, art touches us beyond the intellect, reaching down into society’s emotional core. In the end, the greatest impact of art is its ability to provide us with the truth about the world seen through the eye of an artist.

By Grant Eckert

About Author

Grant Eckert is a writer for Maccaca. Maccaca is a leading Art & Photography | Social Network. visit at: www.maccaca.com

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