Art and the Cities is my personal blog and KZread channel about art and travel. Or better than art trips. I'm not only talking about art history but also about travel, museums, galleries, art market, love stories, books, exhibitions and much more.
»Blog: artandthecities.com/
»Instagram: / artnthecities
See you soon,
Clelia
----
Amazon Recommended Products List: amzn.to/3d83Ku5
I may receive a small commission for purchases made via affiliate links to recommended products ☺️ Thanks for your support!
---
00:00 Intro
00:32 Analysis
01:23 Gauguin
02:24 Details
04:05 Technique
Van Gogh is celebrated today as one of the best known and most appreciated artists in the world. And he has had and continues to have a strong influence on contemporary art as well. But that wasn't always the case. Throughout his life, in fact, he was one of the most rejected artists in history, even by his friend Gauguin in the Arles period. Today we discover the work that symbolizes their differences: Van Gogh's chair from 1888.
Van Gogh and the choice of chairs
From a first analysis, the subject of this work could be considered simple: a country chair in a house from the late 19th century. An unusual still life due to the fact that an object is used that decomposes in a much longer time than a fruit basket or a bouquet of flowers. But in reality, an important symbol that tells a story and makes the subject far from simple.
When Van Gogh moved to Arles, a small town in the south of France, in 1888, his greatest desire was to create a colony of artists. And the arrival of his friend Paul Gauguin obviously makes him optimistic and happy. He buys several pieces of furniture for their country house and begins to paint relentlessly, to show him his good intentions. This oil painting was made by Van Gogh just a few weeks before his famous emotional breakdown and at a time when his friendship with Gauguin now arrived is disintegrating.
In fact, the choice of moving south to an area far from the frenzy of Paris does not turn out to be as positive for Gauguin as he initially imagined. He does not like the atmosphere and the people of Arles and cannot concentrate or work well in this country. So he also starts arguing with Van Gogh.
And even Van Gogh must have realized the differences in style and ideology between the two. And so he decides to paint their two chairs. The chairs they sit on to create their masterpieces. Two works that will go down in history as: Van Gogh's chair and Gauguin's chair. The reason van Gogh paints them is unclear: perhaps to persuade Gauguin to stay in Arles or perhaps just to highlight these strong differences of opinion.
At the beginning of their adventure, having to furnish the house in Arles, Van Gogh gets busy and goes in search of furniture to buy in the country. Among the various objects that he decides to buy there are also these chairs that make the environment more comfortable and rustic. The message that Van Gogh wants to convey to his guest is that of simplicity and hospitality at the same time.
Van Gogh Vincent's chair
In this work, the choice of objects on Van Gogh's chair is not accidental at all. In fact, the artist has carefully chosen which objects to leave on this piece of furniture and how to represent them. The aim is to represent through symbols not only the person using the chair but also his artistic and philosophical approach. On the Van Gogh chair there are simple objects from everyday life: a pipe and a packet of tobacco. This is because he does not need anything other than the environment that surrounds him to create his works.
On the contrary, in the case of the other work Gauguin's Chair, the books and the candle indicate the need for Gauguin to represent through imagination and intellect. What he sees with his mind and not with his eyes.
In fact, there is a still life in Van Gogh's work of a natural nature. In the background on the left, in fact, the artist represented a basket of onions that are sprouting, so probably already there for days. And van Gogh does not use the rules of perspective to create the floor, but on the contrary he exaggerates the perspective itself through the tiles. So he creates a dizzying effect that makes the floor seem completely tilted towards us.
Van Gogh also does not always sign his works. But when he decides to add his signature he always does it in the most discreet spaces and ways possible. From a technical point of view, Van Gogh is by no means discreet. Due to this excessive use of the material it is impossible to spread the colors and the brushstrokes remain very material. But this becomes one of the most appreciated features by us today.