John Berger notes that, ‘original paintings are silent and still in a sense that information never is’. This observation is not different in the case of Vincent Van Gogh's Cafe Terrace at Night (1888). While visiting a museum, I stumbled across this painting, one of Vincent Van Gogh’s great works. My next move was to engage with the painting, with the aim of understanding critical information in relation to its meaning, significance and importance in both the traditional and modern context (Whitney et al, 360). This is to ensure that we learn more about the eye-catching paintings hanging on the walls of museums. In addition, this approach is vital in understanding both the literal and hidden meaning of such a painting, as intended by the artist. The name of the picture speaks volumes in relation to its context and setting; it is a night scene. From a literal perspective, the picture shows a large establishment where people from the region can enjoy their coffee by night. On the other hand, the picture also focuses on the expression of an important meaning in accordance with the intention and the aim of the painter in its composition. For instance, Van Gogh focuses on expressing a beautiful event aided by the stars and the bright sky. In addition, the painting integrates bright colors to express a peaceful encounter during a bright night (Brower 200).
Firstly, I thought it would be satisfying to understand specific data in relation to the development of this painting. I asked myself; “When was this picture made?” Vincent Van Gogh’s the Café Terrace, at Night 1888, was painted between the 9th and the 16th of September 1888. The next key question was the location. I learnt that the picture was painted in Arles. According to an obse...
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...to different generations in the history of Arles (Punt et al, 228).
In the 21st century, the painting still has a great meaning to the people of Arles. This indicates that the painting expresses a cultural relevance to the people of Arles in a similar manner to that which they felt in the 19th century. This attachment is valuable in enhancing my interaction with the painting. Analysis indicates that the painting has diverse meanings in relation to the type of interaction an individual has with the picture. The picture is never silent once you ask relevant questions such as its meaning, intention, and significance to the artist and the target audience. Moreover, the picture could be of meaning and relevance to individuals from different generations or centuries. This is because the painting has captured and exhibited a beautiful scene (The Drawings of Van Gogh 12).
Carol Armstrong begins her essay by pointing out the two main points that come about when discussing A Bar at the Folies-Bergere. These two points are the social context of the painting and its representation of 19th century Paris, and the internal structure of the painting itself with the use of space. She then goes on and addresses what she will be analyzing throughout her essay. She focuses on three main points, the still life of the counter and its commodities, the mirror and its “paintedness”, and the barmaid and her “infra-thin hinge” between the countertop and the mirror.
The Interpretation/Meaning (III) will be written without any guideline points, the aim of this part will be to determine what the painter wanted to express with his piece of work and what it tells us in a symbolic or not instantly clear way. This part will also handle why the artist drew the painting the way he did it and why he chose various techniques or tools.
... study for the overall concept they appear rather as abstract patterns. The shadows of the figures were very carefully modeled. The light- dark contrasts of the shadows make them seem actually real. The spatial quality is only established through the relations between the sizes of the objects. The painting is not based on a geometrical, box like space. The perspective centre is on the right, despite the fact that the composition is laid in rows parallel to the picture frame. At the same time a paradoxical foreshortening from right to left is evident. The girl fishing with the orange dress and her mother are on the same level, that is, actually at equal distance. In its spatial contruction, the painting is also a successful construction, the groups of people sitting in the shade, and who should really be seen from above, are all shown directly from the side. The ideal eye level would actually be on different horizontal lines; first at head height of the standing figures, then of those seated. Seurats methods of combing observations which he collected over two years, corresponds, in its self invented techniques, to a modern lifelike painting rather than an academic history painting.
Even though an individual’s response is subjective, hermeneutical aesthetics focuses on interpretive incompleteness as part of the way human, viewers of artworks included, are in the world. An artwork is always experienced in the present from a particular present point of view and its interpretation is the transmission of meanings across time. In this way the artworks discussed in this thesis bear witness to particular historical events and allow for possible projections of those past events into the future. Contemporary life is permeated with a diversity of visual information. In such an atmosphere the hermeneutic approach provides a way of understanding the applications of the meaning we make of visual input. In light of it, the responsibility of both artist and viewer is among the issues discussed in the last part ‘Beyond Horizons’. Here the perspective moves to weave together the threads of ideas and issues that have been identified in the ‘Fusion of Horizons’ section, and reflects on aspects that reverberate beyond the shifting possibilities within the
...retation of the painting some aspects were surprising to how dark and heavy hearted she could speak, she took an interesting perspective. However in her interpretative poem she found a perspective of the painting that connected with her. As she used every stroke of darkness painted into the canvas an opportunity to have it symbolize this darkness and evil that resides in the world. It told her story and her experience of a starry night. Similarly Van Gogh had used every stroke of light painted into the canvas to be a symbol of beauty, and a symbol of his fascination of the night sky and its illuminating lights. He uses swift movements of his brush to depict a sky that seem to be able to sweep the mind away from the frustrations of this world in to the dreamy night light. A single painting worth a million words tells many stories through every perspective.
A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, located in the Art Institute of Chicago, is one of the most recognizable paintings of the 19th century, a painting made by Frenchman Georges Seurat. Finished in 1886, it has gained much of its recognition over the time of its completion; the pop culture of today has played a pivotal role into the popularity of it. An example of that is being apart in one of the most recognizable scene in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, where one of the main characters is solely staring at the painting until he can’t even recognize the artwork. This painting also gets much attention because it was an early example of the style of pointillism, at the time; pointillism was becoming a new way of expressing one self with the new technique. It also brought upon about the way we saw paintings, and what we gained from the artwork as whole. In all this painting has become an icon in the art scene, due to the technique it used, and how much of an impact it has had in today culture.
images in this painting, all of which have the power to symbolize to us, the viewer, of the painter’s
The article Artists Mythologies and Media Genius, Madness and Art History (1980) by Griselda Pollock is a forty page essay where Pollock (1980), argues and explains her views on the crucial question, "how art history works" (Pollock, 1980, p.57). She emphasizes that there should be changes to the practice of art history and uses Van Gogh as a major example in her study. Her thesis is to prove that the meaning behind artworks should not be restricted only to the artist who creates it, but also to realize what kind of economical, financial, social situation the artist may have been in to influence the subject that is used. (Pollock, 1980, pg. 57) She explains her views through this thesis and further develops this idea by engaging in scholarly debates with art historians and researcher, and objecting to how they claim there is a general state of how art is read. She structures her paragraphs in ways that allows her to present different kinds of evidences from a variety sources while using a formal yet persuasive tone of voice to get her point across to the reader.
While Vincent van Gogh is known as one of the most famous Dutch painters, next to greats such as Rembrandt, his life was filled with poverty and as well as struggle with mental illness. Many of those who have heard of Vincent van Gogh aptly remember him as the impressionist painter who cut off his own ear. This essay will cover the artist’s childhood, artistic career, and death and will serve as a comprehensive review of Van Gogh’s life.
In the mid 1800’s realism was developed as a style of painting to replicate the world as it was seen in a traditional artistic style. This allowed for a new style of art to be created that was based of a real moment or scene but to forget the traditional artistic laws such as distinct lines and forms. Approaching art from this impressionistic view Monet’s painted “Impression, Sunrise” bringing to life a natural scene of a hazy harbor using quick, short brush strokes and defining uses of color and natural light. Van Gough’s “Starry Night” uses similar impressionistic styles to paint a natural scene using vibrant contrasting colors, yet he embellishes the scene to create art that in not merely a landscape but a piece of self expression and shifted
This painting by Vincent Van Gogh is on display at the Art Institute of Chicago Museum, in the Impressionism exhibit. There are many things going on in this painting that catch the viewer’s eye. The first is the piece’s vibrant colors, light blues and browns, bright greens, and more. The brush strokes that are very visible and can easily be identified as very thick some might even say bold. The furniture, the objects, and the setting are easy to identify and are proportioned to each other. There is so much to see in this piece to attempt to explain in only a few simple sentences.
The contrasts between depth and surface, figure and landscape, promiscuity and modesty, beauty and vulgarity all present themselves in de Kooning’s Woman and Bicycle. Although the figure is a seemingly normal woman out for an afternoon with her bike, she becomes so much more through the artist’s use of color, contrast, and composition. The exotic nature of woman presents itself in her direct stare and slick buxom breasts in spite of a nearly indiscernible figure. It is understood that, on the whole, de Kooning did not paint with a purpose in mind, but rather as an opportunity to create an experience, however, that does not go to say that there isn’t some meaning that can come of this work. Even Willem de Kooning once said that art is not everything that is in it, but what you can take out of it (Hess p.144).
Impressionism is the name given to the art movement that changed art forever. Starting in France in the 1860's, Impressionism was considered a radical break from tradition.1 Through the work of artists including Édouard Manet, Claude Monet, Pierre Renoir, Camille Pissarro and Edgar Degas impressionism was born. Impressionists painted outside and focused greatly on light and its reflection. They painted quickly on primed white canvas with short visible brushstrokes and placed separate colours side by side letting the viewer’s eyes mix them. (Techniques uncommon to art at this time) Regarding their subject they again broke with tradition and painted anything they wanted including the modernity of Paris and the everyday life of its citizens. This new found freedom regarding subject along with unconventional techniques greatly displeased the L’École des Beaux-Arts where academic artists would have worked on subjects such as history, royalty and mythology.2 In contrast to the impressionists their work had a smooth varnished finish, showing little to no evidence of the artist’s presence. Having introduced Impressionism, I aim to in this essay analyse why the city of Paris is at the heart of the impressionist movement. Firstly by looking at how Paris helped create the impressionist movement and secondly how Paris fuelled it.
Like many of Van Gogh’s paintings, Olive Trees commences as a landscape and expands into a complex work, disclosing influences from other times and places. Using the color theory and separated brushstrokes of the Impressionists, the movement and vivid colors of the Romantics, and lighting and composition inspired by Millet, Van Gogh achieves the potency and significance that characterizes his work. Van Gogh’s paintings can’t possibly be mistaken for those of another artist of his time because, despite the fact that all of his means have criterion, his end results do not.
It is also possible to sense some dissolution in the Moonlight. The portrait indicates a nocturnal landscape that somehow completes a part of the chronicle from his personal life and struggle. It is also easy to relate the portrait to the artist’s personal struggle with the coherence of the landscape, with main focus being the artist’s sense of crisis that subjectively attempted to explain his disenchanted history.