Vincent Van Gogh is an artist I’ve always felt like I ‘get’, maybe not from a personal life point of view (my ears are firmly in tact), but definitely his approach to painting.
The dude himself
Van Gogh is an artist’s artist; he’s someone that struggling painters frequently refer to when they’re having difficulty shifting their own works (Van Gogh famously only sold one in his life time).
When we first looked at flats in London I was very tempted to go for one particular one in Oval, because Van Gogh had lived there during his early years in London. It had a nice blue plaque, even if it didn’t have many windows.
It was a surprise to see same block of flats was actually a feature of the recent Van Gogh in Britain exhibition at the Tate.
The exhibition focused on his time in London, when he was trying his hand at being an art dealer (he moved onto painting when selling other people’s art didn’t quite work out, mind you it turns out painting them didn’t either). During this time in England, he took inspiration from writings that would later influence his work (the grim world of Charles Dicken’s a particular favourite). Whilst some of the connections between Britain and the works in the exhibition did at times feel a bit too coincidental, it’s still a good collection. Highlights including Starry Night and one of his infamous sunflower studies (the main selfie opportunity for most).
In terms of technique, I love that Vincent can’t help but put a thick dark line around almost everything he paints, I get that too- it never seems finished otherwise. He painted what he wanted to paint, even if he got a lot of stick for it at the time. To really appreciate his technique you need to see his original works, prints don’t do the colours justice (and he chose them well, apparently he only ever used six base colours).
Van Gogh may not have stayed in Britain for long, but the time he was here made a lasting impact. I just wish the Clapham flat we eventually went for could have boasted such an infamous tenant.