Development of the Work of van Gogh

This analysis focuses on an individual artist from a specific European country. One of the interesting things about individual artists, however, is that in many instances they are more European than specifically German or French, at least in the modern era.

For example, in looking at Van Gogh and his work, there is more than one identification. While he is a Dutch artist, born in that country and with a "Dutch" period in his work, he is often associated with the French impressionists and, in one of the sources used for this analysis, he is categorized as a French artist (Kostenevich, 1995). The intention in this paper is to briefly trace his development.

According to Treble (1975), Van Gogh is fundamentally a northerner in his art, even though he was so influenced by the French impressionists and his work was transformed by that set of artists. She noted that his greatest paintings are associated with that time of exile in France. Even more profound than the influence of Holland's norther sensibility, however, is Van Gogh's spirituality. Van Gogh seems unique for his period in the depth of his desire to serve God, and God's purposes, through his lifework. His spirituality and philosophical bent led him first to serve God directly through the ministry, but it continued to influence his paintings.

One can look at his struggles as solely the result of some sort of mental instability, which seems the course of Sweetman (1990) and oth

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eality which spoke to him so clearly. His "Dutch" period followed, which was to extend through 1886 and his move to France. The Dutch period is characterized by a darker palette, more denseness within the picture, darkness, and subjectivity. His artwork is simply an extension of the passionate intensity that he brought to his evangelical work. It exhibited both emotional and social identification with the subject matter in a way similar to that of his ministry. There was essentially no detachment. The Later Work The later work is clearly influenced by the French impressionists with whom Van Gogh increasingly identified. Yet it remains quite distinct, too. It seems to retain a kind of social feel that is foreign to the French impressionists. Perhaps it is best seen as a melding of the northern and southern influences, the dark and the light. In some of the very latest of the paintings, Van Gogh certainly seems to have melded his influences. For example, Kostenevich (1995) noted that is portrait of Madame Trabuc is similar to the heads of peasant women that Van Gogh had earlier painted during his Dutch period. In looking at that work, as in the Head of An Old Peasant Woman, from 1885, there are clear similarities. Yet th

Category: Arts - D