More of Van Gogh's Landscapes

Casey Klahn responded to my last post with a post on his blog The Colorist with a link to the video which follows.

It's an excellent video of stills of Van Gogh's Landscapes - many of which reflect the harvest and Autumn.  You'll note the contrast in his approach in later years to painting trees - when compared to those in the preceding post.

Autumn Landscape by Vincent van Gogh

Autumn Landscape (October/November 1885) 
by Vincent van Gogh
oil on canvas laid down on panel, 67cm x 88cm
Location: Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

I found this painting by Van Gogh interesting for two reasons.

First I'd never ever have guessed it was a painting by Van Gogh.  I'm familiar with his drawings from his time in the Netherlands - see Van Gogh: Drawing Landscapes (Making A Mark 14.2.07) but wouldn't immediately connect the style in those drawings to his painting of these trees

However L'Allée en Automne (Autumn Landscape) is a painting in the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge and is attributed to Van Gogh despite the apparent lack of a signature.

Second, the image of the painting in the Museum is much more subdued than the image on Wikipaintings - which is VERY red.  One wonders whether the latter is a copy from a Chinese Art sweatshop or just hyped up in Photoshop to make it look more interesting!  I've subdued this image and reproduced it at the top - but to my mind it still looks too red!

I am persuaded that the painting leans towards brown as, to my mind, all Van Gogh's Dutch paintings seem to lean towards brown.  This was BEFORE he discovered colour and whoever hyped up the wikipaintings version is probably not aware of how truly sombre his Dutch paintings are.  Whether the nature of the colour in his Dutch paintings was an actual colour choice or just a function of the paints he used - which may have lost colour over time - I'm not sure.  I rather suspect it might be a combination of the two.

We certainly all need to be aware that the art we see on the Internet is not necessarily the way the art looks in reality.  Of course, the image on the Fitzwilliam website could just be unnecessarily dull.  If that is indeed the case it certainly wouldn't be the first time I've seen a website image which doesn't look the same as the real thing.  However its colour and tone is much more like other Dutch paintings by Van Gogh that I've seen - and I think this image is much likely to be a true representation of what it actually looks like in reality.

Anybody seen the painting in the Fitzwilliam who knows the answer?

Anybody know why Van Gogh wasn't signing his paintings in 1885?

Are you surprised this is a Van Gogh?

For more about Van Gogh see my posts tagged Van Gogh on Making A Mark or my resource site set up when I was doing my project about his work Vincent van Gogh - Resources for Art Lovers

Van Gogh's Perspective Frame

One of the most fascinating aspects of the The Real Van Gogh - the Artist and his Letters exhibition is the letter which illustrates the perspective tool which Van Gogh used - and a sketch of him using it!

Perpsective is an aspect of drawing which a number of artists struggle with. Van Gioh was no exception and he studied various handbooks and diligently did various exercises to improve his grasp of perspective and proportions. I was very impressed with some of the drawings which he'd tackled to develop his skills in drawing the perspective of both built and natural forms.

The first room in the exhibition provides some examples of drawings he did - plus the two letters which indicate how he also used technical aids - in the shape of a perspective frame.

• illustrate the perspective frame (Letter 254 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Saturday, 5 or Sunday, 6 August 1882)
• demonstrate him using it (Letter 253
  

I've quoted from these letters letters below.

A sketch by Vincent Van Gogh illustrating how he expected to use the perspective frame he had ordered
Letter 253 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Saturday, 5 August 1882

I’ll start with small things — but before the summer ends I hope to practise bigger sketches in charcoal with an eye to painting in a rather larger format later.

This is why I’m having a new and, I hope, better perspective frame made, which will stand firmly on two legs in uneven ground like the dunes.

Like this, for example.

What we saw together at Scheveningen, sand — sea — sky — is something I certainly hope to express one day.

He described it in more detail in the next letter which also includes three sketches of the post, peg and perspective frame.

In my last letter you’ll have found a little scratch of that perspective frame. I’ve just come back from the blacksmith, who has put iron spikes on the legs and iron corners on the frame.

It consists of two long legs:

The frame is fixed to them by means of strong wooden pegs either horizontally or vertically

The result is that on the beach or in a meadow or a field you have a view as if through a window. The perpendicular and horizontal lines of the frame, together with the diagonals and the cross — or otherwise a grid of squares — provide a clear guide to some of the principal features, so that one can make a drawing with a firm hand, setting out the broad outlines and proportions. Assuming, that is, that one has a feeling for perspective and an understanding of why and how perspective appears to change the direction of lines and the size of masses and planes. Without that, the frame is little or no help, and makes your head spin when you look through it.

I expect you can imagine how delightful it is to train this view-finder on the sea, on the green fields — or in the winter on snow-covered land or in the autumn on the fantastic network of thin and thick trunks and branches, or on a stormy sky.

With CONSIDERABLE practice and with lengthy practice, it enables one to draw at lightning speed and, once the lines are fixed, to paint at lightning speed.

It’s in fact especially good for painting, because a brush must be used for sky, ground, sea. Or, rather, to render them through drawing alone, it’s necessary to know and feel how to work with the brush. I also firmly believe my drawing would be strongly influenced if I were to paint for a while. I tried it back in January but that came to a halt — the reason for stopping, apart from a few other things,was that I was still too hesitant when drawing. Now six months have passed, devoted entirely to drawing. So now I’m beginning anew with fresh heart. The frame really has become an excellent piece of equipment — it’s a pity you still haven’t seen it. It has cost me a pretty penny, too, but I had it made so solidly that I shan’t wear it out in a hurry.
Letter 254 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Saturday, 5 or Sunday, 6 August 1882

How do you tackle drawing perspective when working plein air?

Note: Royal Academy of Arts: The Real Van Gogh Exhibition - The Artist and his Letters exhibition

• Opens to the public: 23rd January 2010
• Closes: Sunday 18th April 2010
• Open 10am - 6pm daily; Fridays open until 10pm; Saturdays open until 9pm.
  
• All days last admission 30 minutes before closing time

Links:

• Making A Mark - Making A Mark - The Real Van Gogh at the Royal Academy
• The Art of the Landscape - Van Gogh's Palette 1882
• The Best Books about Drawing and Sketching
  

Van Gogh's Palette 1882

Van Gogh's Palette (Sketch in Letter 253)
photo copyright Katherine Tyrrell

Last Tuesday I found myself looking at an original letter by Vincent Van Gogh in which he had described the colours he had bought and had drawn a sketch of his palette (see above).

Moreover, I now have all the essentials for proper painting. And a supply of paint — big tubes (which work out much cheaper than small ones), but you will understand that I’ve limited myself to simple colours in both watercolour and oil: ochre (red, yellow, brown), cobalt and Prussian blue, Naples yellow, terra sienna, black and white, supplemented with some carmine, sepia, vermilion, ultramarine, gamboge in smaller tubes.

But I refrained from buying colours one ought to mix oneself.

I believe this is a practical palette, with sound colours. Ultramarine, carmine or something else are added if absolutely necessary.
Letter 253 To Theo van Gogh. The Hague, Saturday, 5 August 1882.

You can see this letter and others in the exhibition The Real Van Gogh - the Artist and his Letters which opened to the public yesterday at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. It marks the publication of a new edition of the Van Gogh letters following a major research project.

I posted an introduction to this on Making A Mark The Real Van Gogh at the Royal Academy. I'll be writing more about this exhibition on this blog and Making A Mark during the next week.

What's interesting is that the letter lists the colours in dutch, the website translates this into English but the sketch lists the colours in French. Whcih rather suggests he was either buying supplies of French paint or the Dutch colourmen used the names established by the French.

So far as I can make out from my photograph (with the aid of a colour chart of Sennelier oils in French) he lists the colours as follows (from left to right):

• blanc d'argent
  
• jaune de naples
  
• ocre jaune
  
• ocre rouge
• ocre brûlée
  
• terre de sienne
• cobalt ou bleu de prusse
  
• noir d'ivoire
  
• vermillon
  

The surviving letters written and received by Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) are contained in a new edition of his letters which were published at the end of last year. It's the result of a project undertaken by the Van Gogh Museums which has lasted some 15 years.

The letters are published:

• in book format by Thames and Hudson - The Real Van Gogh: The Artist and His Letters by Nienke Bakker, Leo Jansen, Hans Luijte. This contains the original letter, a translation, notes about matters referenced in the letters and a facsimile image of the actual letter and images of all the original sketches and works to which they relate.
• on a dedicated website run the Van Gogh Museum - Vincent van Gogh - The Letters. This also contains images of the work
  

In traditional scholarly publishing terms, this web edition is a study edition. That is to say it is intended for Van Gogh specialists, art historians and literary scholars studying Van Gogh’s letters or work, and students of art history, the history of literature and allied disciplines.

They are a fascinating read and I recommend them to anybody wanting to know more about how Van Gogh worked - and approached the business of painting landscapes.

What do you think of his palette?

Note: The Real Van Gogh - the Artist and his Letters

• Opens to the public: 23rd January 2010
• Closes: Sunday 18th April 2010
• Open 10am - 6pm daily; Fridays open until 10pm; Saturdays open until 9pm.
  
• All days last admission 30 minutes before closing time

Van Gogh's approach to drawing landscapes

This is a link to a post on my main blog about Van Gogh: Drawing Landscapes.

I wrote this as part of a month long project studying Van Gogh in 2007. It specifically deals with his drawings rather than paintings of landscapes

Wheat Field with Cypresses at the Haude Galline near Eygalieres

Vincent van Gogh - 1889
Drawing Height: 47 cm (18.5 in.), Width: 62 cm (24.41 in.)
Van Gogh Museum (Netherlands)

It summarises my conclusions from studying his drawings of landscapes in terms of:

• Proportion (landscapes)
• Townscapes and realism
• Gardens and parks
• Trees
• Japanese influence (Ukiyo-e) on Van Gogh
• the Montmajour series

The Park at Arles Vincent van Gogh - 1889
Drawing - chalk; Height: 49 cm (19.29 in.), Width: 61.5 cm (24.21 in.)
The Art Institute of Chicago (United States)

I also developed this list of links to the Van Gogh Letters which discussed aspects of landscape

• Van Gogh letters - 209 references to 'trees'
• Van Gogh letters - 177 references to 'landscape'
• Van Gogh letters - 156 references to 'garden'
• Van Gogh letters - 43 references to 'perspective'
• Van Gogh letters - 32 references to 'park'
• Van Gogh letters - 13 references to 'Japan'

[Update: I should have remembered to also provide a link to my information site - Vincent Van Gogh - Resources for Art Lovers.

Find out about Vincent Van Gogh, his drawings and paintings and where you can see and read about them. This site shares information about:

• the life of Vincent Van Gogh
• Van Gogh's letters and where you can see and read them
• the art of Vincent Van Gogh - his drawings, watercolours and oil paintings
• museums, art galleries and exhibitions where you can see Van Gogh's paintings in person or images of them online,
• books and articles about Van Gogh's life and artwork; and
• other resources for artists wanting to improve their knowledge about how Van Gogh worked

References to famous artists and their approach to landscape art

Do you have a past post on your blog which discusses landscape art in the context of a specific artist in art history?

If you do why not contact me by e-mail with a note of the URL and a suitable summary for inclusion in this blog.