Irises #33 is a painting by Vincent Van Gogh which was uploaded on December 19th, 2014.
Irises #33
Irises by Vincent van Gogh Dutch, 1853 - 1890
In May 1889, after episodes of self-mutilation and hospitalization, Vincent van Gogh chose to... more
Title
Irises #33
Artist
Vincent Van Gogh
Medium
Painting - Oil On Canvas
Description
Irises by Vincent van Gogh Dutch, 1853 - 1890
In May 1889, after episodes of self-mutilation and hospitalization, Vincent van Gogh chose to enter an asylum in Saint-Rémy, France. There, in the last year before his death, he created almost 130 paintings. Within the first week, he began Irises, working from nature in the asylum's garden. The cropped composition, divided into broad areas of vivid color with monumental irises overflowing its borders, was probably influenced by the decorative patterning of Japanese woodblock prints.
There are no known drawings for this painting; Van Gogh himself considered it a study. His brother Theo quickly recognized its quality and submitted it to the Salon des Indépendants in September 1889, writing Vincent of the exhibition: "[It] strikes the eye from afar. It is a beautiful study full of air and life."
Each one of Van Gogh's irises is unique. He carefully studied their movements and shapes to create a variety of curved silhouettes bounded by wavy, twisting, and curling lines. The painting's first owner, French art critic Octave Mirbeau, one of Van Gogh's earliest supporters, wrote: "How well he has understood the exquisite nature of flowers!"
Art was Van Gogh's means of personal, spiritual redemption, and his voluminous letters to his devoted brother Theo, one of which is quoted here, offer profound insight into the artistic struggle.
Van Gogh became an artist in 1881. Although he studied briefly in Antwerp and Paris, he was largely self-taught. He ultimately chose to live in the country, and most of his paintings capture his deep affinity for nature. Theo, an art dealer, introduced Vincent to Paris's most advanced painters, and his work changed under the influences of Edgar Degas, Paul Gauguin, Georges Seurat, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. The flatness of color and shape in Japanese woodcuts also inspired him.
Van Gogh's color expressed his emotions as he responded to the world. His insistence on color's expressive possibilities led him to develop a corresponding expressiveness in applying pigment. His brushstrokes of thick, opaque paint almost seem drawn. His often violently interacting colors and forms and strong expressive line influenced nearly every artistic movement that came after him: Symbolism, Fauvism, Expressionism, and beyond.
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December 19th, 2014
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