Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin with be together forever in art and history. This is a project that I have been thinking about doing for years. My intentions was to paint 12 paintings depicting different stages and events in van Gogh’s life and post them in succession. However, with other projects, series and commissions coming in, I am finding this difficult to do.
Therefore I will post them as I paint them in between my other projects. A lot of research has gone into this project.
I feel good that I was finally able to get this project started with this beautiful painting that has been on my mind forever. This is the window wall of Vincent’s Bedroom. These are two chairs that Vincent painted. The one on the right Gaugin’s chair and the other is his chair with the exception of his pipe. I placed on the table instead of on the chair. Of course I had to incorporate Sunflowers by Vincent behind his chair.
I can picture Vincent and Paul sitting in front of Vincent’s bedroom window in these chairs
sharing a glass of wine relaxing after a hard day of painting with their shoes off. The shoes are my impression of shoes that Vincent painted.
Although this is not the view from his bedroom window, I love this painting by Vincent
Lavanda-e-girasoli-Provenza- Lavender and Sunflowers Painted in 1888 so decided it would be the view for this painting.
In October 1888, van Gogh and Gauguin exchanged self-portraits that revealed a great deal about how they perceived themselves and wished to be seen by others. In van Gogh’s portrait, his gaunt face, short hair and beard allude to his belief in monastic lifestyle and refer to his old as a monk or humble disciple to Gauguin.
Gauguin presented himself as an outlaw in his self portrait. The bold lines of the figure and vivid colors manifest Gauguin’s interest in an abstract, symbolic lifestyle. van Gogh however, was disappointed when he received Gauguin’s Self- Portrait, believing that it expressed torment while falling to offer any hope or consolation. He even suggested that the troubled Gauguin would benefit from a stay in the reinvigorating environment of Arles.
Possiibly one of the greatest artistic influences on Vincent van Gogh was Paul Gauguin . Van Gogh and Gauguin met in Paris in November of 1887. Van Gogh had organized an art exhibit from those who Van Gogh called the Impressionists of the Petit Boulevard. After seeing the exhibit Gauguin arranged to trade one of his paintings from Martinique for two of Van Gogh's Sunflowers studies.
In February of 1888, Van Gogh decided to move to Arles in Southern France and begin what he called the Studio of the South. His plan for the studio was for it to be an artist colony where artists could work together and inspire each other. As an Art dealer, his brother Theo agreed to try to sell their work. Van Gogh rented four rooms in a building on the Place Lamartine in May. This building, known as the "Yellow House," was to be his Studio of the South.
In order to help persuade Gauguin to move to the Studio of the South, Theo provided a 250 franc monthly allowance in exchange for one of Gauguin's paintings each month. Vincent began painting sunflowers to decorate Gauguin's bedroom. These sunflowers would later become one of his signature pieces.
During their time together in Arles Gauguin bought a bale of jute from which both artists used for their canvases. This coarse material caused them both to apply the paint more thickly and to use heavier brush strokes. Van Gogh and Gauguin also painted similar subjects in Arles such as landscapes and people in the village.
In December, Gauguin painted a portrait of van Gogh painting a sunflower bouquet, reflecting his sympathy with van Gogh’s endeavors, but whenever he raised the topic of departure, van Gogh would become agitated.
On December 23, 1888 Van Gogh, in a fit of insanity, pursued Gauguin with a knife and threatened him intensely. Later that day Van Gogh returned to their house and cut off a piece of his ear lobe then offered it to a prostitute as a gift. He was unconscious and immediately taken to the local hospital, where he asked to see his friend Gauguin when he woke up, but Gauguin refused to see him.
A new book, published in Germany by Hamburg-based historians Hans Kaufmann and Rita Wildegans, argues that Vincent van Gogh may have made up the whole story to protect his friend Gauguin, a keen fencer, who actually lopped it off with a sword during a heated argument.
The historians say that the real version of events has never surfaced because the two men both kept a "pact of silence" - Gauguin to avoid prosecution and van Gogh in an effort trying to keep his friend with whom he was hopelessly infatuated.
Gauguin left Arles the next day and the two men never saw each other again.
In the first letter that Vincent van Gogh wrote after the incident, he told Gauguin, "I will keep quiet about this and so will you." That apparently was the beginning of the "pact of silence."
The residents of Arles drew up a petition to have Van Gogh readmitted to the hospital from where he was transferred to a private clinic in Saint-Remy-de-Provence. Van Gogh and Gauguin continued to communicate by letter.
Years later, Gauguin wrote a letter to another friend and in a reference about van Gogh he said, "A man with sealed lips, I cannot complain about him."
Kaufmann also cites correspondence between van Gogh and his brother Theo, in which the painter hints at what happened that night without directly breaking the "pact of silence" - he writes that "it is lucky Gauguin does not have a machine gun or other firearms, that he is stronger than him and that his 'passions' are stronger."
After parting ways neither artist could escape the other's influence. Gauguin's work began to have more religious themes after being influenced by Van Gogh's strong religious background. Gauguin also began using brighter colors, especially yellow, and thicker brush strokes like Van Gogh. Van Gogh began to use Gauguin's technique of painting from memory. This caused his paintings to become more decorative and less realistic.
Vincent's Original Sketch of his chair
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