Still life paintings by Vincent van Gogh (Netherlands) on:
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''Still life paintings by Vincent van Gogh (Netherlands)'' is the subject of many drawings, sketches and paintings made during
''Still Life with Earthenware and Bottles'' (F53) was one of several still life paintings that van Gogh made while exploring the still life genre. In 1884, van Gogh taught painting to a small group of people in nearby
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2 ...
's early artistic career. Most still lifes made in the Netherlands are dated from 1884 to 1885, when he lived in Nuenen
Nuenen () is a town in the municipality of Nuenen, Gerwen en Nederwetten in the Netherlands. From 1883 to 1885, Vincent van Gogh lived and worked in Nuenen. In 1944, the town was a battle scene during Operation Market Garden. The local dialect is ...
. His works were often in somber colors. Van Gogh experimented with the use of light falling across objects.
The next two years (1886–1887), transformed the subjects, color and techniques that van Gogh used in creating still life
A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, m ...
paintings. In Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
he painted many still life paintings of flowers, experimenting with color, light and techniques he learned from modern artists.
Background
Van Gogh moved to Nuenen in 1884 where he lived for two years. Upon van Gogh's arrival, a studio was made for him from a laundry room at the back of his parents' home. Vincent's father, Reverend van Gogh wrote to his sonTheo
Theo is a given name and a hypocorism.
Greek origin
Many names beginning with the root "Theo-" derive from the Ancient Greek word ''theos'' (''θεός''), which means god, for example:
*Feminine names: Thea, Theodora, Theodosia, Theophania, ...
: "We do not think it’s really suitable, but we have had a proper stove installed... I wanted to put in a large window as well, but he prefers not to have one." During that time he completed numerous drawings and watercolors and nearly 200 oil paintings.
In November 1884, van Gogh taught some friends from Eindhoven
Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,Theo van Gogh (art dealer)
Theodorus van GoghNaifeh, Steven and Gregory White Smith. Van Gogh: the Life, p.23 New York: Random House (2011); (; 1 May 1857 – 25 January 1891) was a Dutch art dealer, the younger brother of Vincent van Gogh. Theo's unfailing financial and ...
that he was not making enough effort to sell his paintings in Paris, Theo replied that they were too dark and not in line with the current style of bright Impressionist
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...
paintings.
Students
Van Gogh found three students who took painting classes from him. Anton Kerssemakers, a tanner of about 40 years of age, who had money and time to pursue painting, promised to make 30 paintings over the winter. He met Kerssemakers on a trip to Gennep that resulted in van Gogh's three paintings of the Water Mill at Gennep. There was also two people he called "the Hermanns" who took lessons, but weren't as intensely interested as Anton. Van Gogh said in a letter to his brotherTheo
Theo is a given name and a hypocorism.
Greek origin
Many names beginning with the root "Theo-" derive from the Ancient Greek word ''theos'' (''θεός''), which means god, for example:
*Feminine names: Thea, Theodora, Theodosia, Theophania, ...
that he was not looking to receive payment in money, rather he'd prefer to be rewarded by providing him tubes of paint.
Rumored affair
Van Gogh did not live at the parsonage the entire time he was in Nuenen. For a time he lived with a priest and was rumored to have become involved in the priest's servant that resulted in a pregnancy. The priest condemned van Gogh for the rumored activity and many people within the village felt he was guilty. Van Gogh wrote in September 1885, "That affair with the priest has not given me any more trouble. But of course there will always be God-fearing natives in the village who will persist in suspecting me, for one thing is sure, namely that the priest would only too gladly throw the whole blame of that affair on me. However, as I am quite innocent, the gossip from that quarter leaves me perfectly indifferent; as long as they don't bother me in my painting. I don't take any notice of it whatever. With the peasants to whom the accident happened, where I often used to paint, I have remained on good terms, and I am as welcome in their home as I used to be."Dark color
Van Gogh and his brother Theo exchanged letters about Vincent's propensity to use dark colors and the amount of black in his paintings. Theo was unable to sell any of his work and encouraged Vincent to explore creating work that is lighter in mood and shade. In mid-October 1885, Vincent responded that the use of dark colors were more realistic and mature, "I am writing you rather a long letter – though perhaps you may not believe what I say about the colours, and though you may find me pessimistic when I say that much of what is called delicate grey is a very ugly grey; though you may find me pessimistic or worse when I also disapprove of the smooth polishing of faces, hands and eyes, because the great masters all worked in quite a different way, perhaps by and by your own study of art, which I am glad you took up again thoroughly, will change you too."Pottery, bottles and other vessels
Pottery and bottles
''Still Life with Earthenware and Bottles'' (F53) was one of several still life paintings that van Gogh made while exploring the still life genre. In 1884, van Gogh taught painting to a small group of people in nearby Eindhoven
Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,
File:Van Gogh - Stillleben mit vier Krügen, Flasche und weißen Napf.jpeg, ''Still Life with Four Stone Bottles, Flask and White Cup'', 1884,
File:Van Gogh - Stillleben mit Ingwertopf und Äpfeln.jpeg, ''Still Life with Ginger Jar and Apples'' (b/w copy of painting), 1885, Private collection (F104)
File:Van Gogh - Stillleben mit Ingwertopf und Zwiebeln.jpeg, ''Still Life with Ginger Jar and Onions'', 1885, The McMaster Art Gallery, Hamilton, Ontario (F104a)
File:Van Gogh - Stillleben mit Kupferkessel, Krug und Kartoffeln.jpeg, ''Still Life with Brass Cauldron and Jug'', 1885,
File:Van Gogh - Stillleben mit drei Bierkrügen.jpeg, ''Beer Tankards'', 1885,
Van Gogh lived with his parents in Nuenen in 1884 and 1885 when the still life paintings were made. Behind the vicarage was a large enclosed yard with vegetable plots and a small orchard. Van Gogh made many paintings of the resulting produce, such as potatoes, cabbages, and apples.
The
File:Van Gogh - Stillleben mit Apfelkorb2.jpeg, ''Basket of Apples'', 1885,
File:Van Gogh - Vase mit verwelkten Blätter.jpeg, ''Vase with Dead Leaves'', 1884, Private collection (F200)
File:Van Gogh - Vase mit Mondviolen.jpeg, ''Vase with Honesty'', 1884–85,
Van Gogh painted five paintings of birds' nests in October 1885. According to van Gogh's friend Anton Kerssemakers, he had "no less than 30 different birds' nests" in his studio, collected from his walks or purchased from children for roughly 10 cents per nest. For the more elaborate nests, such as the two ball-shaped wrens' nests in the top right of the ''Still Life with Birds' Nests'' (F111) painting, van Gogh would pay more. The Van Gogh Museum comments: "The relatively light foreground and background of the canvas was probably applied a couple of years later. By then Van Gogh had come into contact with the bright colors of the Impressionists during his time in Paris, and he seems to have found the dark background too somber."
Early September 1885, Van Gogh wrote: "I am now busy painting still lifes of my birds' nests, four of which are finished; I think some people who are good observers of nature might like them because of the colors of the moss, the dry leaves and the grasses." With a ''Bird's Nest'' sketch (Sketch F425, JH 943), van Gogh commented in the same letter of his tender feelings for nests of birds and people: "When winter comes (when I have more time for it) I shall make more drawings of this kind of thing. La nichée et les nids he nestlings and the nests I feel deeply for them – especially people's nests, those huts on the heath and their inhabitants."
File:Van Gogh - Stillleben mit drei Vogelnestern2.jpeg, ''Still Life with Three Birds' Nests'', 1885,
File:Vincent Willem van Gogh 129.jpg, '' Still Life with Straw Hat'' also ''Still Life with Yellow Straw Hat'', 1881-1885,
''Van Gogh, paintings and drawings: a special loan exhibition''
a fully digitized exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries, which contains material on these still lifes {{DEFAULTSORT:Still Life paintings by Van Gogh (Netherlands) Paintings by Vincent van Gogh Paintings of the Netherlands by Vincent van Gogh Series of paintings by Vincent van Gogh 1884 paintings 1885 paintings Still life paintings by Vincent van Gogh
Kröller-Müller Museum
The Kröller-Müller Museum () is a national art museum and sculpture garden, located in the Hoge Veluwe National Park in Otterlo in the Netherlands. The museum, founded by art collector Helene Kröller-Müller within the extensive grounds of her ...
, Otterlo (F50)
File:Van Gogh - Stillleben mit Steingut und Holzschuhen.jpeg, ''Still Life with Earthen Pots and Clogs'', 1884, Centraal Museum
The Centraal Museum is the main museum in Utrecht, Netherlands, founded in 1838. The museum has a wide-ranging collection, mainly of works produced locally. The collection of the paintings by the Northern Mannerist Joachim Wtewael is by a lon ...
, Utrecht, Netherlands (on loan) (F54)
File:Van Gogh - Stillleben mit zwei Tüten und Flasche.jpeg, ''Still Life with Two Sacks and a Bottle'', 1884, Private collection (F55)
File:Van Gogh - Stillleben mit Flaschen.jpeg, ''Still Life with Five Bottles'', 1884, Österreichische Galerie Belvedere
The Österreichische Galerie Belvedere is a museum housed in the Belvedere palace, in Vienna, Austria.
The Belvedere palaces were the summer residence of Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663–1736). The ensemble was built in the early eighteenth centu ...
, Vienna (F56)
File:Van Gogh - Stillleben mit Steingut und Flaschen.jpeg, ''Still Life with Pottery and Two Bottles''(b/w copy), 1884, Norton Simon Museum
The Norton Simon Museum is an art museum located in Pasadena, California, United States. It was previously known as the Pasadena Art Institute and the Pasadena Art Museum and displays numerous sculptures on its grounds.
Overview
The Norton Sim ...
, Pasadena, California (F57)
File:Van Gogh - Stillleben mit Steingut, Bierglas und Flasche.jpeg, ''Still Life with Pottery, Beer Glass and a Bottle'', 1884, Private Collection (F58)
File:Van Gogh - Stillleben mit zwei Krügen und Kürbissen.jpeg, ''Still Life with Two Jars and Two Pumpkins'', 1885, Private collection (F59)
File:Van Gogh - Stillleben mit Pinseln in einem Blumentopf.jpeg, ''Still Life with Paintbrushes in a Pot'', 1884, Private collection (F60)
File:Van Gogh - Stillleben mit Tontopf, Flasche und Holzschuhen.jpeg, ''Still Life with Earthenware, Bottle and Clogs'', 1885, Kröller-Müller Museum
The Kröller-Müller Museum () is a national art museum and sculpture garden, located in the Hoge Veluwe National Park in Otterlo in the Netherlands. The museum, founded by art collector Helene Kröller-Müller within the extensive grounds of her ...
, Otterlo, Netherlands (F63)
File:Van Gogh - Stillleben mit Flaschen, Vase und Muschel.jpeg, ''Still Life with Bottles and a Cowrie Shell'', 1884, Private collection (F64)
File:Van Gogh - Stilleben mit Steingut, Bierglas und Flaschen.jpeg, ''Still Life with Pots, Jar and Bottles'', 1884, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag
The Kunstmuseum Den Haag is an art museum in The Hague in the Netherlands, founded in 1866 as the Museum voor Moderne Kunst. Later, until 1998, it was known as Haags Gemeentemuseum, and until the end of September 2019 as Gemeentemuseum Den Haag. I ...
, The Hague (F178r)
Ginger jar
Brass and copper
Van Gogh Museum
The Van Gogh Museum () is a Dutch art museum dedicated to the works of Vincent van Gogh and his contemporaries in the Museum Square in Amsterdam South, close to the Stedelijk Museum, the Rijksmuseum, and the Concertgebouw. The museum opened on ...
, Amsterdam (F51)
File:Van Gogh - Stillleben mit Kaffeekanne und zwei Bechern.jpeg, ''Still Life with Copper Coffeepot and Two White Bowls'' (b/w copy of painting), 1885, Private collection (F202)
Beer tankards
Van Gogh Museum
The Van Gogh Museum () is a Dutch art museum dedicated to the works of Vincent van Gogh and his contemporaries in the Museum Square in Amsterdam South, close to the Stedelijk Museum, the Rijksmuseum, and the Concertgebouw. The museum opened on ...
, Amsterdam (F49)
Bowl and baskets of fruit and vegetables
Van Gogh lived with his parents in Nuenen in 1884 and 1885 when the still life paintings were made. Behind the vicarage was a large enclosed yard with vegetable plots and a small orchard. Van Gogh made many paintings of the resulting produce, such as potatoes, cabbages, and apples.
The Van Gogh Museum
The Van Gogh Museum () is a Dutch art museum dedicated to the works of Vincent van Gogh and his contemporaries in the Museum Square in Amsterdam South, close to the Stedelijk Museum, the Rijksmuseum, and the Concertgebouw. The museum opened on ...
describes van Gogh's ''Baskets of Potatoes'' (F100) as follows: a "dark still life is a tonal exercise; that is, a study of the effects which can be achieved using varying shades of a limited number of colors." Van Gogh's intention was to create a realistic portrayal of the basket of potatoes. In a letter to his brother Theo
Theo is a given name and a hypocorism.
Greek origin
Many names beginning with the root "Theo-" derive from the Ancient Greek word ''theos'' (''θεός''), which means god, for example:
*Feminine names: Thea, Theodora, Theodosia, Theophania, ...
, van Gogh wrote: "You will receive a big still life of potatoes, in which I tried to get corps, I mean, to express the material in such a way that they become heavy, solid lumps – which would hurt you if they were thrown at you, for instance."
Van Gogh Museum
The Van Gogh Museum () is a Dutch art museum dedicated to the works of Vincent van Gogh and his contemporaries in the Museum Square in Amsterdam South, close to the Stedelijk Museum, the Rijksmuseum, and the Concertgebouw. The museum opened on ...
, Amsterdam (F99)
File:Van Gogh - Stillleben mit Apfelkorb1.jpeg, ''Basket of Apples'', 1885, Van Gogh Museum
The Van Gogh Museum () is a Dutch art museum dedicated to the works of Vincent van Gogh and his contemporaries in the Museum Square in Amsterdam South, close to the Stedelijk Museum, the Rijksmuseum, and the Concertgebouw. The museum opened on ...
, Amsterdam (F101)
File:Van Gogh - Stillleben mit Kohlköpfen, Kartoffelkorb und Blättern.jpeg, ''Still Life with a Basket of Potatoes, Surrounded by Autumn Leaves and Vegetables'', 1885, Private collection (F102)
File:Van Gogh - Stillleben mit Gemüse und Früchten.jpeg, ''Still Life with Vegetables and Fruit'', 1885, Van Gogh Museum
The Van Gogh Museum () is a Dutch art museum dedicated to the works of Vincent van Gogh and his contemporaries in the Museum Square in Amsterdam South, close to the Stedelijk Museum, the Rijksmuseum, and the Concertgebouw. The museum opened on ...
, Amsterdam (F103)
File:Van Gogh - Stillleben mit Apfelkorb und zwei Kürbissen.jpeg, ''Still Life with a Basket of Apples and Two Pumpkins'', 1885, Kröller-Müller Museum
The Kröller-Müller Museum () is a national art museum and sculpture garden, located in the Hoge Veluwe National Park in Otterlo in the Netherlands. The museum, founded by art collector Helene Kröller-Müller within the extensive grounds of her ...
, Otterlo, Netherlands (F106)
File:Van Gogh - Stillleben mit Kartoffeln in einer Schüssel.jpeg, ''Still Life with an Earthen Bowl and Potatoes'', 1885, Museum Boijmans-van Beuningen
Municipal Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen () is an art museum in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The name of the museum is derived from the two most important collectors of Frans Jacob Otto Boijmans and Daniël George van Beuningen. It is located a ...
, Rotterdam (on loan) (F118)
File:Still life with a basket of vegetables by Vincent Van Gogh.jpg, ''Still Life with a Basket of Vegetables'', 1885, Collection Anneliese Brand, Landsberg/Lech (F212a)
Vases
Van Gogh Museum
The Van Gogh Museum () is a Dutch art museum dedicated to the works of Vincent van Gogh and his contemporaries in the Museum Square in Amsterdam South, close to the Stedelijk Museum, the Rijksmuseum, and the Concertgebouw. The museum opened on ...
, Amsterdam (F76)
Bird's nests
Van Gogh painted five paintings of birds' nests in October 1885. According to van Gogh's friend Anton Kerssemakers, he had "no less than 30 different birds' nests" in his studio, collected from his walks or purchased from children for roughly 10 cents per nest. For the more elaborate nests, such as the two ball-shaped wrens' nests in the top right of the ''Still Life with Birds' Nests'' (F111) painting, van Gogh would pay more. The Van Gogh Museum comments: "The relatively light foreground and background of the canvas was probably applied a couple of years later. By then Van Gogh had come into contact with the bright colors of the Impressionists during his time in Paris, and he seems to have found the dark background too somber."
Early September 1885, Van Gogh wrote: "I am now busy painting still lifes of my birds' nests, four of which are finished; I think some people who are good observers of nature might like them because of the colors of the moss, the dry leaves and the grasses." With a ''Bird's Nest'' sketch (Sketch F425, JH 943), van Gogh commented in the same letter of his tender feelings for nests of birds and people: "When winter comes (when I have more time for it) I shall make more drawings of this kind of thing. La nichée et les nids he nestlings and the nests I feel deeply for them – especially people's nests, those huts on the heath and their inhabitants."
Kröller-Müller Museum
The Kröller-Müller Museum () is a national art museum and sculpture garden, located in the Hoge Veluwe National Park in Otterlo in the Netherlands. The museum, founded by art collector Helene Kröller-Müller within the extensive grounds of her ...
, Otterlo, Netherlands (F108)
File:Van Gogh - Stillleben mit zwei Vogelnestern.jpeg, ''Still Life with Birds' Nests'', 1885, Van Gogh Museum
The Van Gogh Museum () is a Dutch art museum dedicated to the works of Vincent van Gogh and his contemporaries in the Museum Square in Amsterdam South, close to the Stedelijk Museum, the Rijksmuseum, and the Concertgebouw. The museum opened on ...
, Amsterdam (F109r)
File:Van Gogh - Stillleben mit drei Vogelnestern.jpeg, ''Still Life with Three Birds' Nests'', 1885, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag
The Kunstmuseum Den Haag is an art museum in The Hague in the Netherlands, founded in 1866 as the Museum voor Moderne Kunst. Later, until 1998, it was known as Haags Gemeentemuseum, and until the end of September 2019 as Gemeentemuseum Den Haag. I ...
, Netherlands (on loan) (F110)
File:Van Gogh - Stillleben mit drei Vogelnestern3.jpeg, ''Still Life with Three Birds' Nests'', 1885, Kröller-Müller Museum
The Kröller-Müller Museum () is a national art museum and sculpture garden, located in the Hoge Veluwe National Park in Otterlo in the Netherlands. The museum, founded by art collector Helene Kröller-Müller within the extensive grounds of her ...
, Otterlo, Netherlands (F112)
Personal items
Vincent van Gogh made a painting of his father's Dutch Authorized Bible in ''Still Life with Bible'' (F117) months after his father, Theodorus' sudden death in March 1885. The Bible symbolizes his father's faith, which Van Gogh felt was too conventional and made for a strict view of life.Isaiah 53
Isaiah 53 is the fifty-third chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Isaiah and is one of the Nevi'im. Chapters 40 through 55 are ...
is the passage identified on the open page, which foretells the coming of the Messiah
In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; ,
; ,
; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of ''mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach'' ...
who will not be recognized. Representing himself is Émile Zola's novel '' La Joie de vivre'' (English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
: ''The Joy of Living''), which van Gogh saw as a "Bible for modern life", placing it next to his father's Bible in the painting. The burned out candle could symbolize van Gogh's father's death or it could represent Vincent's disenchantment with traditional faith.
''Still-Life with Straw Hat'' and another painting of this period, ''Still-life with Earthen Pot and Clogs,'' are regarded by critics and writers for their technical mastery. Both are characterized by smooth, meticulous brushwork and fine shading of colors.
Kröller-Müller Museum
The Kröller-Müller Museum () is a national art museum and sculpture garden, located in the Hoge Veluwe National Park in Otterlo in the Netherlands. The museum, founded by art collector Helene Kröller-Müller within the extensive grounds of her ...
, Otterlo
Otterlo is a village in the municipality of Ede of province of Gelderland in the Netherlands, in or near the Nationaal Park De Hoge Veluwe.
The Kröller-Müller Museum, named after Helene Kröller-Müller, is situated nearby and has the world's ...
(F62)
File:Libro Vincent van Gogh.jpg, '' Still Life with Open Bible, Extinguished Candle and Novel'' also ''Still Life with Bible'', 1885, Van Gogh Museum
The Van Gogh Museum () is a Dutch art museum dedicated to the works of Vincent van Gogh and his contemporaries in the Museum Square in Amsterdam South, close to the Stedelijk Museum, the Rijksmuseum, and the Concertgebouw. The museum opened on ...
, Amsterdam, Netherlands (F117)
See also
*Early works of Vincent van Gogh
The earliest known works of Vincent van Gogh comprise a group of paintings and drawings that Vincent van Gogh made when he was 27 and 28, in 1881 and 1882. Over the course of the two-year period Van Gogh lived in several places. He left Brussels, ...
*Still life paintings by Vincent van Gogh (Paris)
''Still life paintings by Vincent van Gogh (Paris)'' is the subject of many drawings, sketches and paintings by Vincent van Gogh in 1886 and 1887 after he moved to Montmartre in Paris from the Netherlands. While in Paris, Van Gogh transformed th ...
References
External links
''Van Gogh, paintings and drawings: a special loan exhibition''
a fully digitized exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries, which contains material on these still lifes {{DEFAULTSORT:Still Life paintings by Van Gogh (Netherlands) Paintings by Vincent van Gogh Paintings of the Netherlands by Vincent van Gogh Series of paintings by Vincent van Gogh 1884 paintings 1885 paintings Still life paintings by Vincent van Gogh