This series will list some of my favorite paintings by my favorite artists and attempt to explain why.
|
| Café Terrace on the Place du Forum, Arles, at Night |
|
Van Gogh is my favorite painter of all. And this painting exemplifies all of the reasons why. Since the invention of the camera, there isn't much need for a painter to be a literal realist. But the function of an artist is more vital than ever - to capture feelings and senses that mere words or even photographs cannot convey. This painting is all about the sensory experience of being on that cobblestone road, next to that cafe on a summer night. You can hear the sounds of the patrons, smell the food from the kitchen, hear some alley cat down in the dark end of the painting. The light reflecting on the street just perfectly encapsulates that magical feeling of being out in the evening.
|
|
| The Red Vineyard |
|
I love this painting because of the sky. If you think about it, the sky isn't yellow. But Vincent is driving home a feeling: that intense sun pounding down on those workers is relentless, enveloping everything. Like the great poetry of ee cummings, this painting may not make total intellectual sense, but it makes complete emotional sense.
|
|
| Starry Night Over The Rhone |
|
This painting is about light, light, light. Van Gogh's first goal in life was to be a minister, and he said that one of the reasons he began painting was to draw attention to God and creation. This painting is just glorious in its depiction of celestial beauty and how those heavenly bodies illuminate and decorate the earth by reflection. It's almost as if the world is being purified by the night sky. Breathtaking.
|
|
| A Wheatfield with Cypresses |
|
Van Gogh is the epitome of "not appreciated in his time". Can you imagine what people in 1889 thought when they saw this? "That's not what the sky looks like! Why is everything so swirly?" But that's the whole point, isn't it? This painting is all about movement. Somehow, with some simple brushstrokes, Vincent was able to convey this wild feeling of life, wind, movement, aroma, sound...this painting is absolutely electric.
|
Jeffrey Dale Starr is a world traveler, oil painter, and owner of mobile software company Purple Falcon.
No comments:
Post a Comment