Our Study of Vincent Van Gogh
In class last month we studied about the wondrous world of Vincent Van Gogh.
We learned about his many achievements in the art world and also learned about the sadness he endured.
‘What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?’ (Vincent Van Gogh)
Vincent Willem van Gogh was a post-Impressionist painter. He was a Dutch artist whose work had a far-reaching influence on 20th-century art.
‘For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream.’
We studied his ‘The starry night’ Painted in June, 1889, it depicts the view from the east-facing window of his asylum room at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. He pent much time in asylums as many people thought he was crazy. He was afflicted mental anguish all of his life but it is now widely considered that he was an artistic genious.
This painting was worked on by 5 students!‘I put my heart and my soul into my work, and have lost my mind in the process.’
This is a painting called ‘The room at Arles’. It was painted by Van Gogh when he was waiting and begging for his friend Gauguin to visit him. Note that there are two of everything in the room. This was Vincent’s attempt to entice his friend to visit. Sadly however, when Gaugin finally did visit, Vincent and he had a severe argument which resulted in Vincent severing one of his ears.
We studied this painting in 4 different parts. 
You can notice the different styles of the different students… and notice the letter (complete with a sketch of the room) that Van Gogh sent to his friend Gauguin.
Vincent loved to roam the city of Paris. He loved to people watch, here is a study that he did of a cafe scene. Again, we used the help of 4 students!
Some support studies we carried out while studying his technique!
Vincent died penniless, thinking he was a failure but his most famous painting ‘The Sunflowers’ went for 20 million pounds at auction in the mid 1980’s.