Vincent Van Gogh (1953-1890)
Vincent Van Gogh was born in a village in the south of the Netherlands in 1853, the son of a priest. Van Gogh, one of the most tragic artists of the 19th century, lives in constant depression and his belief that he is useless, his desire to do something, to find a way out is the reason for his anxiety. He suffers, is unhappy, restless and lonely, but he wanted to arouse joy and joy with his paintings, tried to turn pain into joy, sadness into joy and loneliness into togetherness.
He was influenced by the loneliness, sadness and pain of people and reflected these in his paintings. He took an interest in the afflicted; like all melancholics who feel out of harmony in the world they live in. Being unhappy is because of his loneliness. His belief that he will never achieve anything, his self-doubt, his tragic fate, and his death are what make him melancholic.
Van Gogh saw himself humiliated and distanced from love in the world. In his letters, he wrote to Theo that he was not in his own hands, that he was locked in a cage as a result of the series of events drawn by fate, that he wanted to do something, but could not find a way. Later, he found his job and devoted himself completely to it with great enthusiasm.
In his early charcoal works, he dealt with miners and villagers, treated subjects such as potato piles and looms, while painting gloomy skies and depressing landscapes in dark colors. The Potato Eaters painting symbolizes this dreary and depressing period (Vincent Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam).
In the painting dated 1885, daily life in the interior is the subject. Workers are shown sharing and eating the potatoes they planted. The only light source is a lamp hanging from above. The light of the lamp illuminates the potatoes. The same colors and tones are dominant throughout the picture. Dark shades of green and brown.
He was trying to get the dusty color of the potato. The color that dominated the whole picture was the color of wild potatoes. The gloomy and dark appearance of the painting and the faces of the people, the poverty create a melancholy atmosphere. Observing such people, Van Gogh also knew what poverty meant. I have always preferred to stay hungry. How can a person bear it? I can see the effect of hunger in my paintings so much that I worry about my future".
In the painting Portrait of Doctor Gachet -1890-, a man sitting with his elbow on the table is seen (Musee du Jeu de Pavme, Paris). The fist of the white capped figure is on his cheek and supports his head. Van Gogh also states that Doctor Gachet, looking thoughtful and dejected, looked sick as well as angry. The face of the figure is dominated by melancholy, sadness, despair and hopelessness. This sadness spreads all over the picture.
All colors and lines fit into this melancholic atmosphere. The lines of the figure follow the gloomy appearance and reveal this emotional mood. The dark blue jacket on it and the dark blue color of the background and the pallor of the face strengthen the expression.
The depiction of the starry night in his landscape, A Starry Night on the Rhine -1888, is dazzling. Luminous stars, artificial lights hitting the sea from the shore, and dark blue and blue tones spread throughout the picture. A couple is seen walking in the foreground. The male of the couples seen here and in other paintings is depicted as having red hair.
The painter, who was alone all his life, always drew his wife, whom he could never find in real life, next to him in his paintings. The figures are very small in the landscape and face the viewer. In one of his letters, he wrote, "The problem of transferring the night landscapes and the features of the night environment to the canvas in the true darkness of the night and on the spot, besieges me from all sides".
It states that death is a means to go to the stars in the sky. He thought that the stars attained by death could be attained. The night is dark, it is fear, it is death, it is sleep, it is loneliness, it is sadness.
Wheat Field Under a Cloudy Sky -1890-"these are vast fields of wheat lying under a gloomy sky...I had no trouble expressing my deep sorrow and endless loneliness," he wrote to Theo in his letter. (Vincent Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam). However, according to him, sadness and sadness are still healing and joyful.
Under the sky dominated by dark blue tones that cover more than half of the picture, the fields are illuminated with yellows and greens and whites. In front are several small poppy heads. "I think the sullen green colors go well with the earthy tones, there's an air of sadness about it that I don't find healthy and therefore unattractive"
Wheatfield and Crows, -1890, again depicts a gloomy and dark sky (Vincent Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam). Van Gogh tried to convey his sadness and extreme loneliness with this painting. Three separate roads separate from the wide field. The viewer is shaken by the uncertainty of where the end of the path and the horizon are in the corner of the picture or in the field. The normal perspective setup of wide open fields is reversed. Lines run off the horizon to meet in front of the painting.
While making this painting, Vincent collapsed on the ground in front of the wheat field divided by two roads rising towards the horizon with his materials in front of him - the third road was in the lower right corner of the picture - and fired twice, first to the left and then to the right. Blackbirds symbolize death. The crows flying in the stormy low sky and the distinctive purple brush strokes in the sky evoke the feelings of loneliness and sorrow in the viewer.
Van Gogh, who shot himself on July 29, 1890, died two days later. In the letter he wrote to his brother after his death, which he did not send, he wrote, "In short, I risk my life for the sake of art and therefore I have lost half of my mind".
