In this article we are going to show you several van gogh paintings made in the last years of his life. Of which they belong to the post-impressionist style that has inspired many painters to make works of art of great quality. Although it should be noted that Van Gogh's paintings became very famous after the artist's death. Keep reading and find out more!
Van Gogh paintings
The painter Vincent Van Gogh has been considered one of the main painters of post-impressionism, since the van gogh paintings He painted more than 900 paintings during his lifetime, including 148 watercolors, 43 self-portraits, and more than 1600 drawings.
During the life of the painter Vincent Van Gogh, the younger brother Theo was an important figure since he was the one who helped him with the financial support so that the painter would dedicate himself to painting the different works of art he made.
Since the painter was young he dedicated his life to painting, making a large number of Van Gogh paintings, among which several stand out for the shape and technique used to paint them.
The first job the painter had was in an art gallery. Over time he decides to become a Protestant pastor and at the age of 26 he decides to go as a missionary to the region of Belgium.
It is important to note that Van Gogh paintings were recognized as valuable works of art after the painter Vincent Van Gogh, was already dead around the year 1890. That is why today they van gogh paintings as one of the greatest works of art of the Post-Impressionist movement, influencing artists of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Since the painter Vincent Van Gogh was found dead from a gunshot wound at the age of 37, it has not yet been determined whether it was a suicide or an involuntary manslaughter, although many specialists have determined that the painter suffered from a mental illness that helped him paint in a spectacular way.
Post-Impressionist Van Gogh paintings
During his life, the post-impressionist painter produced several works, including 900 paintings and 1600 drawings in the decade from 1880 to 1890. This was until he declined with a mental illness that was possibly bipolar disorder or epilepsy.
In this way he decides to become a painter at the age of 27, wanting to reflect in the van gogh paintings how his life was, since many of his paintings will reflect what he lived and the countries where he made the different ones.
It should be noted that many of the van gogh paintings, are a maxim of Post-Impressionist expression that was applied by various artists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They sought to faithfully depict nature and a more spiritual vision of the world. Among Van Gogh's paintings that stand out most in the Post-Impressionist style are the following:
The starry Night
According to many art specialists and critics, the painting "The Starry Night" is considered one of his most spectacular and greatest masterpieces. This painting was done in oil on canvas, measuring 74 cm x 92 cm. The work was reportedly completed in June 1889, when the painter Vincent van Gogh was living in the asylum room in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence.
The Starry Night was painted during the day in Vincent van Gogh's studio. Many have claimed that this is a representation of what the painter observed from his bedroom window in the asylum. Although it was a view the painter painted on many occasions, with 21 different variations being counted, the Starry Night is also included as one of the most important paintings of that time.
It's important to emphasize that the painter Vincent van Gogh painted this painting in various representations and different times of day and night, as well as in different weather conditions. This includes sunrises and moonrise in their various forms.
However, it is known that the staff at the asylum did not allow the painter to create his artwork inside the sanatorium, so he was only able to make various sketches of the . It is also important to note that the work "The Starry Night" is the only nocturnal painting in the series of views of the sanatorium room window.
This is one of the van gogh paintings which has been given many interpretations, but the same painter after having finished the painting of the Starry Night in June. He sent a letter to his younger brother Theo in September 1889, in which he indicated to his brother that he had sent a painting called A Night Study. In which he wrote this about the work:
"In general, the only things I consider a bit good in it are the wheat field, the mountain, the orchard, the olive trees with the blue hills, the portrait and the entrance to the quarry, and the rest does not tell me anything"
Of this Starry Night, one of the most famous of all time is that many artists have reproduced this work in a thousand different ways, but the work has many unknown aspects which are hidden within each brushstroke made by the painter Vincent Van Gogh.
One of the most outstanding characteristics of the starry night is that the artist wanted to paint a landscape from the window of the asylum where he was, which was called Saint-Paul-de-Mausole. Since he remained there due to the different mental problems that he suffered from.
While the painter Vincent van Gogh was painting the painting, he didn't reproduce the landscape seen from the bedroom window, but rather began painting what inspired him most. However, there is an inaccuracy in these paintings: it's impossible for the painter to have created the Starry Night painting, since it wasn't possible to clearly see the city of Saint-Remy from that window.
The Starry Night is one of Van Gogh's paintings that have generated the most publicity and is currently on display at the famous MoMA Museum in New York and is seen by many people who love art receiving good reviews.
Cafe terrace at night
It was created in 1888, and is a work belonging to the Post-Impressionist style. It is an oil painting currently housed in the Kröller-Müller Museum in the Netherlands. It is known as one of Van Gogh's most notable paintings and one of the most reproduced.
This is one of Van Gogh's paintings depicting the terrace of an elegant café located on the Place du Forum in Arles. It is one of Van Gogh's paintings where the painter expresses his impressions of Southern France.
According to specialists, the style used by the painter is unique since the colors he used are warm and give the painting a very deep perspective. Being the first painting that the painter Vincent Van Gogh will make with a starry background.
Wheat field with cypresses
It was carried out in the year 1889, it is one of the van gogh paintings It was designed while the painter was in the psychiatric hospital in Saint-Rémy. Every time he looked out of his bedroom window, he was fascinated by the cypress trees he saw, and he wrote a letter to his younger brother, Theo, saying the following:
“The cypresses continue to worry me. I would like to do something with them, like the sunflower paintings, because I am surprised that no one has painted them the way I see them yet.”
That's why, months later, he dedicated himself to creating one of his most important paintings, as it captures what he sees outside his window, inspired by his thoughts. He is able to capture mountains, clouds, and wind on canvas, along with a wealth of vegetation, all with such perfection.
The work is currently in the MET Museum in New York City. And the painting has the following measurements 13 cm x 93 cm.
Marina Les Saintes Maries de la Mer
This work is currently housed in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It measures 40 cm x 50 cm. It was completed by the artist in June 1888. It is one of his works in the French town of Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, very close to the Mediterranean.
The painter wrote a letter to his brother Theo saying that he wanted to visit the Mediterranean in order to get to know it and to be able to create a work of art. He took three canvases to create this painting, which he said was an open-air seascape where he tried to capture the color of the sea, which is why it is one of those where he managed to give it a changing color.
The sunflowers
It is one of a series of paintings featuring fourteen sunflowers. It was created in 1888. It belongs to the Post-Impressionist style and is number four in the series. This work was executed in the French city of Arles in southern France.
The work of sunflowers has the following measures 90 cm x 70 cm. In this table, what will stand out is the yellow color that the lead chromate was used. That is why the work has a very enigmatic yellow color.
But according to the specialists they say that the lead chromate when exposed to light begins to discolor your green-brown environment. Currently this painting is on permanent exhibition in the city of London at the National Gallery.
Almond blossom
It is one of Van Gogh's paintings made in February 1890, painted in oil on a canvas with the following measurements: 73 cm x 92 cm. In the province of Saint Rémy. The painter is inspired by Japanese woodcut works and the subject treated is a branch that is full of white flowers and make a beautiful constant with the sky that has a celestial blue tone.
The painting that the artist Vincent Van Gogh painted, was a gift for his younger brother Theo and his wife, since they had informed the Dutch painter that they were going to be future parents, which was going to bear the name of Vincent Willem, in honor of the painter Vincent Van Gogh.
Dock with men unloading sand barges
Another one, made in the French city of Arles, focuses on two boats, which are light brown and the water appears green, although it is one of Van Gogh's few landscape works in which the sky is not visible.
It is also observed how a person is working unloading some material from the ship. According to art specialists, the painting is focused somewhere on the Rhône River and very close to Place Lamartine, just a few steps from Van Gogh's studio at the time. The work is currently in Germany at the Folkwang Museum.
The church of Auvers
It is one of the most famous oil paintings on canvas. According to art experts, the painting was completed in 1890 and measures 94 cm x 74 cm. The painting is currently on permanent display at the Musée d'Orsay in France.
This painting was painted after the Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh was released from the hospital where he was hospitalized. In the beautiful French city of Auvers-sur-Oise. Since the painter decided to go to that city to be treated by the doctor Paul Gachet. In this city the painter would spend his last ten weeks of life and during that time the painter made at least a hundred paintings that have been very valuable for art in the world.
house in wheat field
Many studies have pointed out that it is one of the most beloved since it was the time when the famous painter lived in the French city of Arles and the fields were sown with wheat and the painter always addressed the subject of wheat fields.
In the painting, the artist approaches the space where he paints a row of forests and a large field where the slightly green wheat appears and a large farm that looks very lonely. The work was painted in oil on a canvas, the painting is on permanent exhibition at the Van Gogh Museum in the city of Amsterdam.
The bedroom in Arles
The painting known as the Arles bedroom made by the Dutch-born painter Vincent Van Gogh, was made in the month of October of the year 1888, it is a work done in oil on a canvas. It is a representation of the room where the painter lived during his stay in the French city of Arles.
Although it has the characteristics that the painter made three identical paintings on this work. One of these paintings is kept in the Van Gogh Museum in the city of Amsterdam. But this picture is deteriorated since there was a flood in his bedroom when he was hospitalized in the asylum for the mentally ill.
After a year and he was discharged from the asylum, the painter dedicated himself to making the second work that is in the Art Institute of Chicago in the United States and at the same time he began to make the third work of the bedroom which is on display at the Musée d'Orsay.
In a letter to his younger brother, Theo, the Dutch painter tells him that he has created several paintings of his Arles bedroom, so that they can see what the space where he lives is like. He wishes to emphasize the tranquility and simplicity with which he lives in that small room through the simplicity of the colors.
Harvest
A work created by the Dutch painter in 1888, the work measures 73 cm x 92 cm. It is currently on display at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. The painting is named after Van Gogh himself.
It's an open-air work. Like others, it belongs to a series of Van Gogh paintings dedicated to the wheat harvest, which he began painting in June 1888. Many experts have asserted that the harvest painting depicts a Mediterranean landscape, with a very bright, Provençal landscape standing out.
In Van Gogh's painting, the painter skillfully uses perspective, focusing the gaze on the wheat fields and gradually receding to the mountains and clear sky. The predominant feature is the strong summer sun that gradually erodes the fences, the wheat ears, the cart, and the farms. It has also been claimed that the painting is influenced by Japanese art, as Vincent van Gogh greatly admired this style of art.
irises
A painting that the painter Vincent Van Gogh painted a year before his tragic death. These flowers were inspired when the painter was in the asylum and observed this style of flowers in the institution's garden.
According to many art critics, when observing the work, they have said that the painting is full of life and an air of tranquility. Because each one of the irises that the painter made, he studied them carefully as was the movement and the forms that each plant had and each flower in this way could create each silhouette between many wavy lines.
The work was made in the year 1889 and the measurements are 71 cm x 93 cm. The artist stressed that to make this work he had to carry out a real study. That is why his brother Theo de him, seeing the spectacular work of his older brother, presented the painting at the annual exhibition of the Société des Artistes Indépendants in September 1889, together with Starry Night over the Rhône. The critics affirmed that the work was a beauty full of airs and life.
The first owner of this valuable work paid 300 francs for it in 1891. He was a Frenchman known as Octave Mirbeau, an art critic and anarchist. Later in 1987, the painting sold for $53 million. However, Mr. Alan Bond was unable to raise the money, and the work currently resides in the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.
The starry night over the Rhône
This work was completed by the Dutch artist in September 1888. It is another of his works created in the French city of Arles at night. It is said that the work was executed on the banks of the Rhône River, just a few minutes from the well-known yellow house on Place Lamartine. The painter rented this house full-time to draw inspiration from the .
Among the most important features of this painting is the many lighting effects the painter created in the night sky, which gave the Dutch painter ideas for other works in a similar style. This included his famous work, The Starry Night, and another well-known work, Café Terrace at Night.
The present work is in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. It was first exhibited in 1889 at the renowned annual exhibition of the Société des Artistes Indépendants in Paris. This work was included in that exhibition by the painter's younger brother, Theo. The painter himself said the following about this great work of art in a letter he wrote to his younger brother, Theo:
«It includes a small sketch of a canvas of thirty squares, in short, the starry sky painted at night, actually under a jet of gas. The sky is aquamarine, the water is royal blue, the ground is mauve. The town is blue and purple. The gas is yellow and the reflections are reddish gold descending to green bronze.
In the aquamarine field of the sky, the Big Dipper is a brilliant green and pink, whose discreet paleness contrasts with the brutal gold of the gas. Two colorful figures of lovers in the foreground.»
Olive trees with yellow sky and sun
A work completed in 1889, painted on canvas over oil. It is one of those in which he sought to convey, in some way, the anguish he suffered, not as despair, but as consolation. The painter was certain that his works were intended to console the viewing public. This is why he painted the olive trees, as these trees represent a profound religious and symbolic meaning in the Holy Land.
Although it can also refer to the landscape that was observed in the sanatorium of the city of Saint-Rémy, where he only wanted to paint the beauty that he wanted to represent through his imagination and creativity. The work was done with vigorous and strong brushstrokes, but with very light touches, where he made touches of dark color around the sun.
This work is currently on permanent exhibition in the city of Minneapolis precisely at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts in the United States. This work is known by its name in English which is titled Olive Trees with Yellow Sky and.
small pear tree in bloom
Although it is well known that the painter Vincent Van Gogh was trained as a great painter in France, since in that country he made several very interesting works. But the great hubbub that was in the capital made him feel so bad about the illness he was suffering from that he decided to change the city and the climate. With which he decides to go to live a little further south of France and settles in the city of Arles in the year 1888.
While in that city, spring arrived, and the painter began to gain strength and creativity, creating new works of art in the Post-Impressionist style. He captured everything around him, creating beautiful images.
Between May and April 1888, he painted fourteen paintings, each with almonds, plums, peaches, and other natural themes. This work is part of a three-part series.
The Siesta
A painting painted by the Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh in the early 1890s. Although many art specialists claim that this painting was made when the painter was in an asylum for the mentally ill.
But other art critics have even commented that he had to have done it in the city of Arles since the employees of the asylum did not let him paint his works of art, he could only design the sketches.
However, this work is on permanent display at the Musée d'Orsay in France. He is one of those who followed the techniques of his teacher Millet, having been interested in the technique of this famous French painter from a very young age, who was contributing many works to contemporary art in France at the time.
The work the siesta is a painting made by the painter Vincent Van Gogh which has the following measurements 73 cm x 91 cm. The theme of the work is a couple of peasants who are resting. Many have said that the painter wishes to convey the happiness that her younger brother Theo is experiencing for having married a woman and is expecting her child. Since the couple in the painting are very happy resting together.
Vase of Gladioli and Aster
A painting made in the year 1886, at that time it is one of Van Gogh's paintings dedicated to still life. In a letter that he writes to a friend, the painter tells him that he did not have the money to be able to pay models to pose in his work, for which he decides to paint nature.
These gave him the opportunity to experiment with a new technique known as Post-Impressionism. For this reason, the artist used techniques of light and radiant colors to attract the viewer's attention. This work is housed in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
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