Becoming an apprentice to Van Gogh

Author: Wei Ben
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-01-01
Features: Van Gogh's life was filled with imbalance, pain, and tragedy. His words and actions often drew criticism, and he was always regarded as a genius who defied conventional norms. However, no matter how frantic the composition and execution of Van Gogh's works may seem, they were not the product of a madman. Even in his obsessive, Van Gogh never ceased to consider order and reason. First, he had a strong foundation in sketching. His artistic career began with sketching, and he never stopped practicing it. His keen ability to capture forms and his extremely fluid lines were all thanks to this. Every one of his works diligently adhered to its own principles, expressing pure harmony through passion, fixing shapes with color, and defining proportions and space. His paintings were far from the work of a madman; they were the of an artist with a perfect conscience. He sought spiritual liberation and the path of life through his paintings, analyzing himself, which is evident in his over forty self-portraits. His paintings were not meant to imitate appearances or please the tastes of the upper class, but rather to recreate the world according to his own wisdom and unique sense. Color was not used to achieve local realism but to inspire passion. He used raw, dry, and provocative colors, seeking harmony through opposition. They were sometimes sharp, sometimes severe, with no subtle distinctions or gradual transitions, employing a bold and straightforward approach. Van Gogh liberated color, taking it to the pinnacle of intensity and expressiveness, blending the expressiveness of Eastern lines and the emotional impact of Western oil painting colors. Thick layers of unblended colors were piled onto the canvas stroke by stroke. However, he remained vigilant, never sacrificing color for the sake of shaping forms. Despite influencing entire modern art movements, such as Fauvism and Expressionism, he had no direct successors. His paintings were his soul and body.