14th September 2024 - 19 January 2025
Sixth visit Monday October 28th. There was no significant queue so I was over half an hour early into the exhibition even though it was very crowded inside.
I did not really expect to get a good image of the Starry Night painting. ISO 6400 1/320sec f/1.8 and some magic noise reduction seems to have worked. There may be some odd reflections in the top of the image.
I did not really expect to get a good image of the Starry Night painting. ISO 6400 1/320sec f/1.8 and some magic noise reduction seems to have worked. There may be some odd reflections in the top of the image.
Starry Night Over the Rhone, Arles, September, 1888
oil on canvas
72.5 × 92 cm
Musée d’Orsay, Paris
oil on canvas
72.5 × 92 cm
Musée d’Orsay, Paris
Still Life: Vase with Twelve Sunflowers, Arles: January, 1889
oil on canvas
92 x 72.5 cm
The Philadelphia Museum of Art
oil on canvas
92 x 72.5 cm
The Philadelphia Museum of Art
(detail)
Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890)
Peach Trees in Blossom 1889
oil paint on canvas
The Courtauld Gallery, London
I had seen this painting at The Courtauld recently and was interested in the overall intensity of applied paint strokes.
Peach Trees in Blossom 1889
oil paint on canvas
The Courtauld Gallery, London
I had seen this painting at The Courtauld recently and was interested in the overall intensity of applied paint strokes.
(detail)
The paintings that have this intensity of activity certainly draw my attention but I am thinking that the contrast with the flatter areas of painting more in the manner of Paul Gauguin may be significant.
I have looked again at the Sunflowers painting and some of the portraits today with this in mind.
The paintings that have this intensity of activity certainly draw my attention but I am thinking that the contrast with the flatter areas of painting more in the manner of Paul Gauguin may be significant.
I have looked again at the Sunflowers painting and some of the portraits today with this in mind.
Olive Grove, Saint-Rémy, June 1889
oil on canvas
73 x 93 cm
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Fine Art, Kansas City
oil on canvas
73 x 93 cm
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Fine Art, Kansas City
(detail)
The underpainting is often quite important and on close viewing, at paintbrush distance, often provides visual relief for the viewer. The View of Arles, Flowering Orchards
1889 has some wide expanses which are quite eloquent!
The Meadow painting aka 'Long Grass with Butterflies' is one of the most intense surface paintings to the extent that it seems a bit unapproachable.
The Meadow painting aka 'Long Grass with Butterflies' is one of the most intense surface paintings to the extent that it seems a bit unapproachable.
Meadow in the Garden of Saint-Paul Hospital, Saint-Rémy, May, 1890
oil on canvas
64.5 x 81 cm
National Gallery, London
oil on canvas
64.5 x 81 cm
National Gallery, London
(detail)
(detail)
Quite by accident I just stumbled across a link to research on the degradation of chrome based paint colour:-
"On several paintings by artists of the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th Century a darkening of the original yellow areas, painted with the chrome yellow pigment (PbCrO4, PbCrO4·xPbSO4, or PbCrO4·xPbO) is observed. The most famous of these are the various Sunflowers paintings Vincent van Gogh made during his career."
Copyright © 2011 American Chemical Society
(Reading the article would be expensive...)
"On several paintings by artists of the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th Century a darkening of the original yellow areas, painted with the chrome yellow pigment (PbCrO4, PbCrO4·xPbSO4, or PbCrO4·xPbO) is observed. The most famous of these are the various Sunflowers paintings Vincent van Gogh made during his career."
Copyright © 2011 American Chemical Society
(Reading the article would be expensive...)
I had been wondering about the lack of chromatic definition within some areas of paint where the physical elements are in place. This is notable in the 'Sunflower' paintings but may be evident elsewhere. I think that there are some green pigments with a chrome base... it looks like there is a whole gamut of scientific investigation out there.
On the other hand there are areas of Van Goghs paintings where the flat colour is articulated by the paintbrush marks alone with no chromatic steps at all!
Sometimes the changes in appearance of the paintings as photographed historically can be dramatic as with the Self-Portrait, Saint-Rémy: late-August, 1889 from the National Gallery of Art, Washington
On the other hand there are areas of Van Goghs paintings where the flat colour is articulated by the paintbrush marks alone with no chromatic steps at all!
Sometimes the changes in appearance of the paintings as photographed historically can be dramatic as with the Self-Portrait, Saint-Rémy: late-August, 1889 from the National Gallery of Art, Washington
Still Life: Vase with Twelve Sunflowers, Arles: January, 1889
oil on canvas
92 x 72.5 cm
The Philadelphia Museum of Art
My personal interest historically was in finding the way to articulate the steps between the 'dark' version of a colour value and the 'light' version with the same chromatic intensity. I'll have to 'proof' my image here (of the Sunflowers) as it is looking as if this version has the steps well articulated, given time looking.
oil on canvas
92 x 72.5 cm
The Philadelphia Museum of Art
My personal interest historically was in finding the way to articulate the steps between the 'dark' version of a colour value and the 'light' version with the same chromatic intensity. I'll have to 'proof' my image here (of the Sunflowers) as it is looking as if this version has the steps well articulated, given time looking.
Self-Portrait, Saint-Rémy: late-August, 1889
oil on canvas
57 x 43.5 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington
The articulation of the background and jacket appears to be 'missing' in the old photograph!
oil on canvas
57 x 43.5 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington
The articulation of the background and jacket appears to be 'missing' in the old photograph!
La Berceuse (Augustine Roulin), Arles: January, 1889
oil on canvas
93 x 74 cm
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
oil on canvas
93 x 74 cm
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
So, as I was on the circular commute by bicycle this morning, (31/10/2024) home to home, I was mulling over the considerations relating to a 'flat' painted surface in the context of this exhibition. The optical consideration seems clear, really. A 'flat' surface without incident has no focal element to place it in space. The 'flat' surface of paint in Josef Albers 'studies for square paintings' are inevitable precisely scraped over the 'masonite' ground showing transparency and texture, immediately impacting his claim to only using paint straight out of the manufacturers tube.
L'Arlesienne (Madame Ginoux), Saint-Rémy: February, 1890
oil on canvas
60 x 50 cm
Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna, Rome
oil on canvas
60 x 50 cm
Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna, Rome
In this group of portraits which are 'flat' by comparison to the extreme agitation of the painted surfaces in the landscapes the modulation is quite clear. I will look at the other portraits next time at the exhibition but I think that there is an element of proportional scale that might be considered as well. The flower paintings will maybe illustrate this further. The slightly manic need to 'paint' every detail comes to mind when thinking of the landscapes. There is little thinning of the paint in the far distances, just selection of a different set of colours.
The more limited palette in the portraits here, if not the self portraits, makes for a calmer more intimate composition. The 'flat' surfaces are modulated by stroke or colour variation. The colour intensity is more subdued so optical fatigue is less likely to occur.
In all three portraits here there is a red/green dialogue established at varying levels. The backgrounds are actively painted with texture, patterns or repeated design or 'decorative' elements.
In all three portraits here there is a red/green dialogue established at varying levels. The backgrounds are actively painted with texture, patterns or repeated design or 'decorative' elements.
L'Arlesienne (Madame Ginoux), Saint-Rémy: February, 1890
oil on canvas
66 x 54 cm
Private collection
oil on canvas
66 x 54 cm
Private collection
I am not quite sure why I chose these two close-up shots but the presence of the primed coloured canvas is of some interest.
It looks as if the coloured canvas was prepared and then the composition elements were 'filled in' sometimes leaving the ground in between.
It looks as if the coloured canvas was prepared and then the composition elements were 'filled in' sometimes leaving the ground in between.
I will look more closely at some of the landscapes as I had thought that they may have been constructed in a similar manner. Ground colours laid down and then articulated by the drawn strokes of the laden paintbrush.
Site Updated February 2026 Felix Mottram